


The Spider and the Wolf

by Poridiaa



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Baby Peter Parker, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky takes care of Peter, De-Aged Peter Parker, Flashbacks, Past!Steve and Bucky, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a child, Peter is a HYDRA experiment, Protective Bucky Barnes, Soft Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-06-11 03:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15306042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poridiaa/pseuds/Poridiaa
Summary: Peter is a small eight year old boy with extraordinary abilities. These white washed walls are all he's ever known; HYDRA has made sure of that.Bucky is the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed soldier manipulated by Hydra for the intent of becoming a killing machine. He's desperate to get free, but he's been in this "place" for so long that he's not sure what he can do once he's free.As their lives collide, two soft hearted experiments of HYDRA must be able to rely on each other to survive.Or:Bucky and Peter are super soldiers that HYDRA has designed. When a prison break is successful among Hydra's top experiments, the two boys need to figure out how to stay on the run and find some place safe, and the only way to that is together.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Itsy Bitsy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14226840) by [Scotty1609](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609). 



Peter blinked awake, immediately blinded by the harsh white lighting and equally harsh faces of the doctors. This was routine for the just past eight-year-old boy. He would wake up surrounded by unfamiliar faces and dozens of IVs and needles. He almost had become immune to torturous habits. It was Peter's normal.

The people around him have charts and white lab coats, and they all babble amongst themselves. Some talk in German, some in French or English, but everyone is talking about one thing: Peter. He'd been HYDRA's top experiment in the last few years. Rarely had the "torture doctors" been able to get their hands on a subject so young. And with Peter's youth came the consequence of uncharted territory.

They mixed his young DNA with a radioactive spider, giving him the nickname "Pauk" among some of the Russian scientists. Pauk is Russian for spider, Peter began to figure out. His intellect was far superior to other children his age, and it showed dramatically. What Peter lacked in raw strength he made up for in pure wit. 

Many of Peter's abilities involved his super-senses. This meant that Peter heard crisp and clear what the doctors were speaking about. Most of the small conversations were nothing interesting, all charts and statistics Peter could recite by heart. He was able to lift 30x his weight, and they planned on increasing that number. He could jump stories, and they were impressed, but not satisfied. There, however, was one conversation that caught Peter's attention.

"The young spider, patient 0017, is showing major progress. He is amazing, for sure....It's time he is faced with a true challenge." Muttered Dr. Zola to a young man. Dr. Zola was the head of the project Peter was apart of. He used to be just that, a distant supervisor of the genetic mutation patients. But Peter's extraordinary development and success meant that he had more direct contact weigh the illustrious biochemist. 

The words rang dry in Peter's ears. What could a true challenge possibly describe? Hadn’t he been pushed far beyond his capacity enough?

Oh boy was Peter in for a surprise


	2. An escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time since....well Bucky wasn't sure, The Winter Soldier had a feeling. He saw this small child not as an opponent anymore, but something he needed to protect.
> 
> The way he curled himself up and played with his fingers reminded Bucky of....something. He had been brainwashed for years, memories were difficult. But the innocence in this small boy had a rush of familiarity flow through him.
> 
> And he knew what he had to do: Protect Patient 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be officially editing this in a little while but I wanted to post as quickly as possible for those who have been waiting for it.

Bucky could remember his old life like it was a dream. It was hazy and unreliable, but there were some things that were undeniable. He might be a cold blooded assassin, but he was quite sure he wasn't always.

Those at HYDRA wanted Bucky to try sparring with an up and coming soldier. Patient 0017, the Spider, was deemed ready to fight with him. Dr. Zola wanted to test his ability with a known variable. And that variable meant Bucky.

Bucky wasn't prepared for the spider to be so small. He could probably step on the child if he wasn't careful. The Spider may have had a rounded infant-like face, but his expression was that of a grown man. He was intimated but not overpowered. 

Dr. Zola has wanted to test his abilities with a real opponent rather than robots and dummies. And Bucky was the strongest soldier in the facility. 

After coming to a draw several times, the scientists concluded a match and left the experiments to their own devices while they drew up charts. Peter would dodge Bucky with all of his acrobatic and agility skills. He was a fair opponent, and Bucky knew he would be defeating him had he ever made a move.

Now the two sat quietly in a dimly lit basement of the massive HYDRA facility in the middle of nowhere Russia. For the first time since....well Bucky wasn't sure, The Winter Soldier had a feeling. He saw this small child not as an opponent anymore, but something he needed to protect.

The way he curled himself up and played with his fingers reminded Bucky of....something. He had been brainwashed for years, memories were difficult. But the innocence in this small boy made a rush of familiarity flow through him.

And he knew what he had to do: Protect Patient 17.

After his initial encounter with the Spider, Bucky sparred with him often. The doctors wanted to build up the child’s endurance by having him pushed beyond his limits constantly. For Bucky, it was a test to break his usual habit of brute force. Peter used tactics and dodges, so in order to defeat him he would need to act accordingly.

Bucky grew fond for the child. He sweared that patient 0017 was familiar, but he could never quite get it. But that didn’t stop him from wanting to care for the spider in ways the doctors clearly weren’t. 

Whispers. Rumors. That’s all it seemed to be. There were barely conversations.

There was gonna be a breakout.

Bucky has been told this by the Spider. He seemed nervous when he asked the larger man.

“Is the breakout gonna be scary? Or can we be ‘free?’”

The smallness in his voice desperately not wanting to be heard. Truth be told Bucky was kept off the “inmate loop.” The other people in the facility saw him as a threat, perhaps. In any case, this was his first time hearing of any organized escape.

And since then the whispers grew louder. Guards were locking down security. Tension grew higher. Eyes were shifty and suspecting. The atmosphere was thick and heavy. 

It was late at night. The day was unclear, but it was sometime in autumn.

Bucky awoke to sirens blaring. The deafening bells made his ears ring. It was all so sudden. Flashing red lights illuminated the facility. The world looked like a stop motion movie. Red, then black, then red again. 

Bucky immediately knew what was happening: the breakout. He opened his door quickly to see guards frantically chasing after laughing and flailing inmates. 

Quarantine. Patient 0017 was at Quarantine. He remembered the doctors saying this. It limited the risk of him being uncontrolled. He was still an impressionable unknown. They wanted to keep monitors on the child at all times. Bucky pitied how little independence the boy had. 

Racing down the halls in the darkness with panic and sirens roaming rampant wasn’t how Bucky pictured his night to go; he intended on a good sleep. But the most pressing matter now to him was to be able to rescue the spider. Bucky felt something like he wanted to do all he could for the little boy, he wanted better for him.

Guards would try to chase after Bucky, but he was clearly faster and stronger. Left and Right. Bucky swiveled his head hoping to find a room fit for an eight-year-old.

The last room in the hallway finally gave him some luck. The door was latched closed, but Bucky managed to pry it open.

Whatever Bucky was expecting wasn’t this. The boy wasn’t on the floor but hanging upside-down from the ceiling crying. He was violently shaking, obviously scared. Tears ran down-or rather up-his bright red face on to the floor beneath him. Bucky couldn’t tell if his face was red from hanging upside down for what could have been a while or because he was crying so much, but he figured that wasn’t an important question for the time being.

“Come down, it’s okay.” Bucky coaxes gently, his Russian delicate but firm. The boy stopped crying momentarily to look down at the Winter Soldier. His face relaxed, only slightly so but enough to make Bucky feel better.

“I’ve got you, Pauk.” Bucky said again, the small child climbing down on the Bucky’s back.

It was a tender and quiet moment. Bucky felt relaxed as the boy cuddled onto his shoulder, wrapping tightly but not suffocatingly so. That peace was brief, because Bucky heard the hustle of guards charging down the hallway. There had to be a dozen of them, and they were heading this way.

Bucky ran. He ran as fast and as far as he could. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going, but he knew he had to get out of there. The baby, well eight-year-old but he was quite small in Bucky’s defense, was unhappy and needed something better. Bucky understood that. It had only been a few months or less, but Bucky felt a connection to his spider boy. 

The exit was right in his grasp. He felt like the stairs were never ending, but a light came from the top: a light of a free world. 

His escape was foiled by dozens of well armed guards coming from above and from below upon the Winter Soldier and his honorary ward. 

17, the small boy on the back, whimpered at the sight of all the personnel who wanted to bring him back to his cell. He was scared, quite frankly, for not only his safety but also his life. Who knows what torture they would give to a disobedient super solider child who tried to escape. Bucky shuddered at the thought. 

Filled with the adrenaline of a breakout, Bucky decided now was the time to fight back. A roundhouse kick in the face to the guard approaching on his left. A hearty smack in the gut to the guard with a gun pointed at the boy. 

Bucky felt unstoppable in that moment, like he was on top of the world. Sure, Bucky was used to fighting. It was all he really knew. This time? This time it felt different. He felt like it had purpose to it this time. It was more meaningful, and that made it all the more powerful. 

There were probably eight men down when the spider hopped off Bucky’s back screaming. At first Bucky was jarred by the screeching of the child and his sudden movements when he had only been whimpering and clutching Bucky’s back moments prior. But when Bucky whipped around, he was surprised to find the boy sitting on a guards shoulders, having a guard attempt to punch him, and that said guard accidentally punching the guard whose shoulders he was on square in the nose. 

Bucky felt pride course through this veins.

The Spider was an unstoppable source of energy. He raged toward generals and soldiers who were attempting to control all escapees like he was a bull. He was not a bull, but in fact a bony child with anger larger than his body. 

Bucky and Pauk made a good team. The Spider would distract and dodge when Bucky would go in for the hit. Bucky would come to realize that this child also had immense strength when he threw a grown man across the room into another man, although this obviously physically strained him. 

It seemed like the never ending swarm of men was slowing. It was after lots of damage between all parties, but mostly guards, that Bucky and the child managed to have made all the guards incapacitated or unconscious. Bucky let out a sigh of relief, if only for the briefest moment.

He was stopped when he realized something crucial: he couldn’t find the exit they were initially running towards.

Bucky searched frantically for something. Anything. Panic surged his entire body. They couldn’t be defeated now. They'd made it this far. He was at the edge of hope: freedom was just out of their grasp.

Generals and guards lay unconscious on the floor below them, but he knew back up would be there in a matter of minutes. Time was of the essence here. 

Desperate for anything, Bucky looked over at the little spider beside him. Blood and bruises embellished his little hands. His hair was tossed and he had a large scratch along his baby cheek. He was panting, clearly worn out from such a large and cruel battle in which he fought relentlessly. But he was healing quicker than Bucky had anticipated, which he supposed was a good sign.

It seemed like forever, but after searching left and right, the boy found a panel in the ceiling from which the pair could potentially escape from. It was small, but it might be the pair’s only chance of getting out of this god forsaken facility. Cold air whistled through the vent: a sign that perhaps it would lead to the outside. A shot in the dark, yes, but a shot nonetheless.

The boy glided up the wall and through the air ducts with proper ease. Bucky managed to climb is way through, but struggled immensely. He had two hundred pounds and two and a half feet on the spider. Bucky knew he needed to do this, so thus pulled himself close and shimmied his way through a never ending maze of metal.

The boy’s odd abilities included heightens senses. He managed to feel the coldness of the outside world, and he reasoned that was the way to the outside. He could hear guards pacing endlessly. All the “patients” but two were successfully put back into their cells: they were the two. Bucky couldn’t help but feel prideful that they were the only ones able to escape. He was quickly disheartened at the fact that even though they were so close, they weren’t quite yet. 

Only a few more feet, maybe.

Suddenly, light.

It was a dramatic contrast to the darkness of the air ducts, even to the fullness and dimly lit underground bunker and facility. It had been a while since Bucky was out here, but it was a lifetime for the boy in front of him. 

The sun was on the brink of the horizon, slowly rising above the snowy mountains. It was autumn, but even autumns has bits of snow in Russia. 

The cold air whipped through Bucky's long and shaggy hair. A taste of liberty was at the tip of his tongue. He knew that the boy and he would be on the run for as long as they were out; HYDRA would want their two best soldiers back certainly.

But Bucky wouldn't think about that when a child clung to his metal arm, searching for warmth. He had bigger priorities. Little Pauk needed him, and Bucky wasn’t yet aware of how much he needed his spider friend. 

With the boy clinging to Bucky, head crooked in the shoulder blade of the larger man, they trudged off into the unknown.

 

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey if you want to follow me on Instagram, tumblr, or twitter they’re all also @poridiaa so come see what’s happening! Thank you all for the love it means so much to me!


	3. In to the Wilderness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brightness of the pure white snow and the ever increasing span of daylight blinded Peter. Was it all finally over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally edited all three chapters! Boy do I make a lot of typos sorry to those to read these before I edit them. 
> 
> ****TW: slightly alludes to molestation? Idk it just kinda went there I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable I’ll Astrid where it is for you*****

The brightness of the pure white snow and the ever increasing span of daylight blinded Peter. Was it all finally over?

The two escapees trudged throughly the seemingly barren wasteland for quite some time before they found a secluded cave in a hillside. The taller man seemed satisfied with the said cave, and told Peter that was the new "home." Peter wasn't quite sure what that meant, but he took it as a good sign.

The Wolf was kind to Peter. He was slow to ask questions, which was helpful because Peter often did not have answers. Memory erasure meant he could speak eight languages near fluency (vocabulary was challenging when he was exposed to so little growing up) but not be able to recall a happy memory. 

"Let's start off with names. I'm not quite sure, but I remember I was called Bucky. Is there something I can call you?" 

Peter hesitated. The scientists never particularly gave him a "name." He was called many things: 17, Spider, Pauk, Child. None of these were names, though. He wasn't even sure he had a legitimate name. He'd been a prisoner of HYDRA so long it's not like he would know what it was anyways.

"I used to be called little Peter." He shyly admitted. It was his little secret with one of his early doctors, the one who treated him most kind of anyone in that godforsaken facility. 

Dr. Petrov was the geneticist originally overseeing Patient 0017. He was far from a nice man, but he was also far from the cruelty of Dr. Zola and his crew. 

Dr. Petrov was a stout middle aged man. He had a harsh receding hairline and graying hair, but his eyebrows were a thick and oily black. His white lab coat, which was customary among the doctors and staff, was adorned with a little golden pin of the sun. Dr. Petrov would call the baby little Petr, like Petrov but with fewer letters. Because Dr. Petrov had no wife or children, he saw Peter as his own child in a twisted kind of way. Peter was the closest thing to a name, but even that was barely something. He hadn't seen Dr. Petrov in years.

Once Peter began exceeding development expectations, he was noticed by the chief Zola. Dr. Zola was a much smaller man, and there were legends that he had been around forever. He had been involved in experimentation since Bucky, Peter would later learn. That's when Dr. Petrov was taken off of duty to patient 0017, and Peter never saw Petrov again. That was 3 years ago, though. 

"Alright then," Bucky said, stopping Peter's faint memories and focusing him back to reality. "Hello Peter."

Days grow colder as nights grow longer. Early fall becomes late fall which becomes early winter. Peter and Bucky have been traveling across Russia for a few months, never staying too long because they can trust nobody. Some days they would be out in the forest and some days they'd be in downtown Moscow. 

Two times did Bucky and Peter ever run in to a potential threat. The first time was earlier on. The boys were seated outside a cafe in an unnamed metropolitan area. An older man with a big hat and sunglasses came up to the pair as they shared a loaf of bread Bucky managed to "scavenge" money to purchase. He wasn't going to be a bad example and steal food, of course. The large man made Peter feel uncomfortable, and Bucky immediately could tell.

"Where's your home, little boy?" He asked, and Peter could detect the yellow stained teeth grinning at him. His spider-sense was haywire, and he knew trouble was close. Something inside him made him know. Peter couldn't explain it to Bucky, but it was just a feeling of danger. 

"Back off the kid, you weirdo." Bucky snarled, his thick accent permeating the words as if he was physically chewing them and spitting them all right at this man. Peter felt safer with Bucky, for sure, but he wasn’t sure how long he would have Bucky by his side. Good things never lasted, he knew that from an early age.

The man pulled a gun. "I'm with HYDRA surrender or we'll do it for you." Men swarmed them in the city center. Peter got flashbacks to a month before in the facility, feeling like there were endless guards ready to topple him over. It was one of the scariest things Peter thought he would ever have to do.

Peter didn't even remember hitting people. It all felt like he left his own body as pure emotion swept in and grasped hold. 

And the pair of runaways trudged into the wilderness again, likely not to be in a city again for quite some time.

“Camp” became the thick of a forest in Eastern Russia. It was probably the longest shelter they had. A makeshift tent was made by tying a blanket between three trees and living underneath that blanket. The blanket had leaves over the top so it looked like brush from the top. In the dead of winter it was all adorned with snow, and the landscape seemed to blend with each other. 

Because winter was so brutal, Bucky and Peter relied on making a fire for warmth. Peter was entranced by watching the orange flicker back and forth. He had apparently not been familiar with the concept of fire, which surprised Bucky tremendously. Peter felt bad for being so ignorant, but Bucky made sure to let him know that it was okay. That made Peter feel better than anything the doctors would do.

Their favorite thing was roasting food over the fire. Peter quickly caught on to things, and one of those was learning to cook. He also easily could hunt food, but he did not like to do so because that meant killing a helpless animal. His exquisite reflexes made him animal-like, but he had a heart of gold, which made him inhuman.

Peter watched with intent as Bucky rubbed sticks together when he made the fires. A spark would ignite, and suddenly there was a billowing flame. It fascinated the spider. The way it danced for him, it made it beautiful. Dangerously beautiful. He could tell Bucky was in a trance, too, but it seems more of a serious trance than a curious one.

Peter would notice how Bucky stared into the fire for long times. He saw something in the smoke, it appeared. Something from his past. Peter wondered heavily, but he never would dare to ask. He was taught to listen, not speak. He left talking to Bucky. Even if Bucky didn’t want to talk. 

Bucky told Peter stories by the fire. Peter liked some of them. Bucky told him about a handsome prince who went to the ends of the earth for his love, and rescued her from peril. That was Peter’s favorite. He liked the prince because the prince was a good person, and Peter wanted more people like that.

He didn’t like the scary ones. There were ones with ghosts and pirates and various other scary things. Peter felt afraid, and Bucky would turn the story into a happy ending. 

And they would laugh until Peter dozed off, away from reality.

And dreams kicked in.

***(TW)Some nights Peter got nightmares. He saw visions of being back at the lab, the prison. He saw the doctors look at him like he was going to be punished for everything he did wrong. He disobeyed them, and he knew he deserved all the pain. They would touch him in awful places that made Peter feel guilty. He didn’t like when he was naughty, it made him feel naughtier. ***(End TW)

Peter would always wake up sweating. Sometimes he would wake up screaming, but Bucky didn’t want anyone to hear them, so e tried to remain quiet. 

Bucky seemed to never be asleep, because every time Peter awoke from a night terror Bucky would be there. He opened up his arm and Peter would curl in to Bucky’s side. The Wolf would put his arm around the small boy and their breathing would sync. The world seemed warmer when he was with Bucky. Peter felt safer, and something told him Bucky did, too. 

The world was scary and unpredictable, but they had someone who cared for them: each other.

"Do you think they'll get us, Buck?" Peter asked. Peter eagerly awaited his response, but with every millisecond Bucky hesitated the Spider grew less and less hopeful. Inevitably, they would be found. And Peter would have to go back, this time without Bucky’s loving presence there to make the pain better. And tears welled up in Peter’s eyes. Was this all going to be in vain?

"No." Bucky said after what felt like an eternity. “Not if I can help it."

And the snow fell around them, Bucky's words echoing throughout the force. The world seemed calm and quiet, like the white wonder deafened the harsh brutality that would usually be awake.

 

But it wasn't going to stay calm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please follow my social media’s to keep updated on things @poridiaa on most places will work. Let me know if you’re enjoying I love reading comments! ;3
> 
> Hi Kieran! (My boyfriend reading this)


	4. Fishing and Sailing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been nine days on a makeshift wooden boat across the Barents Sea before they were in Norway. The pair had sailed the north border of Russia to avoid being caught by the HYDRA spies and forces, and they ended up getting off in the northern areas of Norway.
> 
> They were free at last, if that was what you could call it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late it’s a bit longer than I had planned I just really like domesatic fluff oh well.

Bucky and Peter had to keep on their toes if they wanted to stay alive. Even though there were little places Bucky wished they could have just stayed, they had to keep moving far away if they didn't want to end up back in the laboratory. 

Winter got less harsh as days went in to weeks. The whipping wild winds seemed to become more gentle and forgiving, if only slightly so. Bucky and Peter we're heading more north with each day, so weather wise there was not much of a difference. But things seemed to get more gentle with the passing weeks and months.

It had been nine days on a makeshift wooden boat across the Barents Sea before they were in Norway. The pair had sailed the north border of Russia to avoid being caught by the HYDRA spies and forces, and they ended up getting off in the northern areas of Norway.

They were free at last, if that was what you could call it.

Bucky was wide awake, as always, watching the sunrise over through the tall mountains in the region. Shore was just ahead, and they would set up a more permanent lodging than anything they had made in Siberia. It was difficult navigating the icy fjords, but with spring on the horizon it seemed easier.

The sun slowly climbing the mountains was one of the prettiest sights he had seen in a while. Part of Bucky wanted to wake Peter up, but the small boy was asleep on the man's lap. The boat was barely big enough for one person, and the days spent on the boat meant they had no personal space. Neither of them really minded though. 

The people of Norway were quite friendly. They barely asked the boys questions, but Bucky wouldn't know if they had: he couldn’t speak Norwegian. Peter, on the contrary, picked up the language in a matter of days. His fast intellect was so incredible that Bucky got metaphorical whiplash trying to keep up with him.

Bucky learned that Peter could speak ten languages conversationally. The multi-cultural doctors at the facility meant that Peter was exposed to many different dialects. He might not have known what many normal items were called, but he was able to talk with people in Russian, German, Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Romanian, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, and now Norwegian. He mostly spoke Russian and German, though. 

It took a week before Peter and Bucky managed to find their perfect gem. It was an abandoned boathouse by the ocean. It was far from most civilization, but Bucky managed to locate that there was a village a few miles down the water. 

They were happy in their “cottage,” if it could be called that. Bucky had taken up a liking for fishing. He would sit out on the dock for hours with a line in his hand. It felt relaxing for him. There was so much stress in his life -taking care of a superhuman child, the constant threat of HYDRA locating them, etc.- that it felt good to be doing something calm. 

Bucky liked taking Peter into the village when it was possible. They didn’t do it a lot because the pair got stares quite often. Bucky was a muscular Russian man with a metal arm, and with Peter slinging off of his back there were bound to be questions. But if it was a warmer day they would walk the shore until they got there and they would get some new blankets or a new shirt. Sometimes they got something nice to eat if Bucky ever managed to get spare money. Bucky even sold some of his fish he caught, so they made some real money.

It was almost like the patients were living a normal life. 

Almost.

Peter and Bucky stayed in Norway for close to three months. Spring was in full bloom as snow buttercups lined the dirt pathways. Peter would pick some and put them in both his and Bucky’s hair. Peter’s fascination in wildlife was endearing. He had never seen the outside world for the first eight years of his life, so he was trying to make up for that lack by spending as much of his time outdoors as he could.

Bucky hasn’t been used to the domestic life, either. He had been a soldier for HYDRA for so long he could barley remember a time he wasn’t. Even the snippets he did remember of his “other life” were nothing like what he was now leading. 

“Pete! It’s time to go in the village!” Bucky called to nowhere in particular, he knew Peter’s heightened hearing meant he would be able to hear that. 

Sure enough within seconds the boy was leaping toward him, swinging along the trees effortlessly. “Bucky I found a frog!” Peter exclaimed. Sure enough, in the palm of his hand was a tiny frog. “I’ve named him liten because he is little.”

Bucky and Peter made their way the three miles to the village, but something was different about it this time. Peter tensed up when they came to his favorite trading post: the one with candies in it. 

Bucky only saw him after Peter pulled the arm of the Winter Soldier’s sweater. A man was walking on the opposite side of the road from them. He had dark sunglasses and a hat with the Norwegian flag on it. He looked like normal tourist from the front. He would stop at store windows and look at the trinkets, but he never really left Bucky and Peter more than a couple hundred feet. 

Bucky was worried that HYDRA had finally located them in their safe haven. Bucky was really starting to like their small house in the woods, he wasn’t ready leave. But safety ha fro always come first.

After trying to loose him for a good ten minutes, Peter and Bucky were pretty confident that the correspondent was no longer near the before heading back to the shack. Bucky ran fast to make he wasn’t being followed. The last thing they needed was someone coming to their home.

Nothing happened for five days. Bucky was beginning to think he was just being paranoid. Maybe the mysterious man was really just a tourist after all.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A rapping at the door stunned Bucky and Peter in their tracks. They were busy playing chess on the floor. They tried not to go outside because Bucky was nervous they would be caught, so they found fun in the boathouse.

Peter looked desperately up to Bucky, obviously waiting for some sort of signal. Bucky nodded his firmly, and Peter quickly jumped up to the ceiling and began slowly crawling toward the door, having his special bucket, a fish, and a chess piece in his hands.

Bucky ran to get the biggest knife, being careful not to make creaking in the floor. Three more taps at the door. A man’s voice, one that sounded more annoyed than angry if Bucky had to describe it, yelled at them. “Just open up already, we know you’re in there.”

Knife shakily equipped in one hand, Bucky opened the door slowly with the other hand. Peter was ready on his place above the door with his “weapons,” should he find use for them. Bucky and Peter had prepared for if HYDRA ever found them again and made protocol for such an event, which Bucky hoped they would never need to use.

Neither of them were prepared for what, or maybe who, showed up on their doorstep.

 

“Bucky? What on earth are you doing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s gonna be a few days before the next chapter, I’m planning a long one. Follow my Twitter because I’m always talking about how long it take me to write lol. Enjoy and thank you all for the kudos I’ve been getting I love getting notifications on this because I’m proud of this work! I’m planning on making a new work after I get the next chapter of this out so look for that! See ya!


	5. Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bucky? What on earth are you doing?"   
> . . .   
> “Steve?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow did a lot of people guess right I’m impressed. Chapters are a little slow I’m in a drama group where we aren’t allowed on our phones. For the entire day. Sorry about that. Enjoy though.

Steve had been trying to get in contact with Bucky since they first located him. When news spread that two of HYDRA's most elite soldiers had escaped a top secret, underground bunker, Steve felt hope. He knew in his heart that Bucky was one of those escapees.

Steve had made sure he heard of every time someone spotted them. He wanted to see Bucky again, it had been far too long. The last time Bucky and Steve had an encounter, it was during a fight. Steve called out to him, hopeful the stoic soldier’s memories would come back. There was nothing there. The other Avengers thought it was a lost cause. Steve knew better than that. There was something behind Bucky’s eyes. He knew that the real Bucky had to be there somewhere. He knew it. 

Steve couldn’t convince the others that Bucky wasn’t hopeless, but he really tried. Tony seemed to think that finding Bucky would be a bad thing. "Look, Cap, he hasn't caused any trouble to civilians in months. Maybe it's better to just leave him alone. This could be good for him."

Steve began to think that he would never find Bucky. Every time he thought he was getting closer, Bucky moved further. Steve had agents keeping an eye on him in dozens of countries. But it wasn't going to be easy finding a top-tier trainer military soldier with every intent to not be found. 

Bingo.

Nicky Fury himself called up Steve personally to tell him that they had a location on the winter soldier. 

"We think we found him, Cap. I mean it sure looked like him. But there was someone else with him. A little boy. Would you know why at all?"

Steve didn't know. He didn't stop to think about the fact that it had been so long since he saw Bucky. He had no idea what HYDRA had been doing to him, though he had some solid hypotheses. He finally began to process that he really didn't know what Bucky was like anymore. He was hanging around a kid, and Steve had no explanation. 

Steve managed to convince Tony to let them use his Jet to get to Norway. Tony agreed, but he still felt weird about Bucky as a person. Bucky had done some awful things as a HYDRA soldier, but Steve knew that wasn't really him. And sure the other avengers knew he was brainwashed, but none of them got to really know the real Bucky.

The real Bucky was really caring and protective. He would never want to hurt other people if he could help it. It was just hard to let the others know about that softer side. 

The plane landed in perhaps the smallest airport Steve had ever seen. Him, Tony, Bruce, and Natasha stepped out. They wanted a small group as to not intimidate Bucky and the boy. The four then had to drive a few hours to get to this middle of nowhere village. Tony wasn't too keen on the small town vibes, he preferred the bustling city loads more. Steve actually found it charming, though. 

It took them a few hours before they were able to follow a dirt path put a few miles into the woods. Yellow flowers lined the path until they reached an abandoned looking shack. Steve immediately knee it was where Bucky lived. There was something in the rustic charm that reminded him of when he and Bucky were younger.  
Bruce came up to the haggard old door. He knocked on it three times

Knock. Knock. Knock.

When there was no response inside, Steve began to worry. What if they really did have the wrong place? Maybe he really wouldn't be able to find Bucky. He didn't even notice he was pacing until Natasha grabbed him by the shoulders.

Tony groaned. He was impatient and wasn't ready to play any games. He wanted to be able to go back home as soon as possible. 

"Just open up already, we know you're in there." Tony hollered with a sigh. Natasha was a bit impatient as well. "Maybe they're escaping!" She whispered. Steve couldn't say anything because that could very well be possible. They needed to act now if they were going to get Bucky and the mystery child. 

Just as Natasha was about to open the door, it creaked open for her ever so slowly. 

"Bucky? What on earth are you doing?" Steve asked. The winter soldier was holding a butcher knife and he looked startled as ever. These were not the guests he was expecting, Steve could determine.

"I....I..." Bucky stuttered. Just then, a boy came swinging down from the ceiling, a single small head came down from where it was likely tucked above the doorway. 

"RAAAAAA!!!!" Yelled the child at the top of his lungs. He lunged toward the group and managed to cling on to Tony Stark's head. "Settle down there, buckaroo. We won't hurt you." Tony said to the boy, which made him stop. But the little boy stared questioningly at Bucky. Bucky seemed like he was hit by a truck. He seemed to be processing everything all at once and he didn't know what to do.

"Bucky it's okay. It's Steve."

The boy said something to Bucky. Steve wasn't quite sure, but it sounded Russian. Natasha must have recognized what the small boy was saying because she responded in similar sounds; Steve was now sure they were speaking in Russian and that he was a clueless American. The young boy seemed to soften up around Tony's neck and shoulders, and Tony took it as an opportunity to take the child down and place him on the ground below. 

Bucky finally seemed to calm down when Steve grabbed his shoulder firmly. It was a simple gesture, but Bucky calmed down almost instantaneously. It felt like 1941 for a moment, the two of them in their innocence being the young kids they. Life sure had taken them far from that innocence. 

"Buck. What is going on here? Do you know how long I've been looking for you?" Steve asked. He wanted answers to all the burning questions piling up in his mind. His best friend had disappeared periodically for years while Steve desperately tried to cling on to the one bit of his old life he had left. 

"Steve." It was all Bucky said, but Steve was just so overcome with emotion that his simple name meant progress. Bucky remembered him. It was going to be okay. 

The small boy was clutched to Bucky's leg. He seemed frightened by all these new people, like they were going to hurt him. Steve wondered who they thought the Avengers were.

"What's your name?" Bruce asked the little boy. Bucky wasn't saying much. He was just stroking the boy's hair gently, potentially as a way of calming them both. They obviously were expecting some sort of threat, and were scared by everyone else. 

Steve barely heard a whisper, but the little boy seemed to mutter "I am Peter. Peter.”

"Alright, Peter, do you have a last name? Any parents?" Tony butted in. The boy seemed a little confused by the question. He seemed not to be familiar with either of those concepts, especially the latter. 

Bucky asked the boy something in response. Natasha said that Bucky said "They want to know if you go by any other names. A second name. They also want to know who you are from."

Peter seemed to understand this more. A faint voice whispered "Peter Pauk" in response, but it was merely a murmur and unclear to make out.

"Okay Peter Park, or is it Park er? Well where are you from. We just want to help you." Tony said. Steve was shocked at Tony’s surprisingly calm tone of voice. 

Bucky tensed up. Peter hung his head low and retreated back into Bucky’s legs. The boy seemed to be hurt by that particular inquiry, which made Steve, Natasha, Bruce, and Tony exchange a concerned look. Curiosity boiled over Steve’s thoughts as a dead silence permeated the air between them. 

It took a good few minutes before Bucky and Peter actually spoke up. In that time Steve decided to get a bearing on his surroundings. The "house," if it could be called that," was small and cluttered with random items. There were blankets piled in a corner and chess pieces sprawled out on the floor. There were two beds in one corner and one of those mini fridges in anOther. The whole place smelled of old fish, which Steve considered a problem in itself.

"Steve," Bucky started. It had been only a few minutes of silence, but Steve felt like it was years. He needed Bucky to explain himself somehow. "Steve, what are you doing here exactly? You come in and ask Peter questions without any explanation. It is our time for questions."

“Why are you here?”

Steve choked up. What was he supposed to say? ‘Oh yes I have been keeping tabs on you, not creepy at all.’ No, he couldn’t say that.

“We want you to come back with us. You’re not safe with HYDRA still out to capture you. We want to offer...protection.” Bruce spoke up. Steve was glad that Bruce was able to say something and say it right. 

“Why now? HYDRA has been looking for us for 8 months. We finally found a safe place and you are trying to tell us it isn’t?” Bucky asked. He tripped over his words a bit as he tried searching for what he wanted to say. It was almost like the English language was just coming back to him. 

“We have been having trouble,” Steve managed to utter. “We’ve been meaning to find you for months but you were always a step ahead of us.”

“If we found you here, chances are that HYDRA will, too.” Tony chimed in.

That seemed to stop questions. Bucky looked over at Peter. They seemed to have a conversation without ever saying a real word. It was fascinating to Steve, really, how close the two were. Steve had so many more questions, but he knew this wasn’t the right time. Something told him the others had questions, too.

Bucky sighed. He looked so tired. He looked tired of keeping his defense up. Tired of running away for months on end. He had to be worrying about the safety of the kid as well as HYDRA’s constant and looming threat over them. Steve knew that Bucky wouldn’t say it, but the winter soldier needed a rest. A real true rest. 

He reached over for Peter’s hand and clenched it tightly. They exchanged glances one more time. Peter seemed to nod at Bucky.

“Alright. We will go with you. Show us where.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is gonna be a a few days because I intend on starting a new work here wow cool! Alright thanks bye guys.


	6. Flying above your problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “. . . Running away from our problems isn't going to solve them. How about we make a deal? . . . But you've got to give it a try. For me, pal?“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long notes at the end whoops sorry :0 sorry it took a week I’ve been busy I promise
> 
> I’ll edit later I promise!

Peter was nervous to say the least. Four complete strangers appeared out of nowhere at his house and now he and Bucky were being taken with them to their secret base or something? Peter wasn't sure what exactly was happening other than he was freaking out. His spider senses weren't sensing danger, but that made Peter all the more nervous. He thought that Bucky was too okay with this.

The four strangers led Peter to a large vehicle. Language learning told him this was an airplane. He knew HYDRA had some, which certainly didn't help the situation. Peter's nervous feeling spiked when they began emabarking on this piece of flying metal. Peter may have been almost nine years old, but he had never flown before. It wasn't an exciting experience, it was a terrifying one.

"I don't like this." Peter whispered to Bucky. He was clasping the larger man's hand so hard it was turning purple. Bucky didn't seem to mind, or at least he pretended not to mind. 

"Are you sure about this, Buck? I can always break us away from them. I don't mind running, honest." Peter pleaded. In the past few months he had gotten much more fluent in speaking because he knew words he wasn't just using for combative purposes. 

"Hey, Pete. Running away from our problems isn't going to solve them. How about we make a deal?" Bucky began. He stopped walking and crouched down to make eye level with the child. 

In English Bucky called out to the strangers to wait. Peter was familiar with that word even in the facility. "Okay. We can try staying with these people for a few weeks. See how it goes. If you feel uncomfortable or if they try to hurt us, we will get out of there so fast you won't blink in time." Peter smiled at that image. "But you've got to give it a try. For me, pal?"

Of course, Peter couldn't say no. The man was practically on his knees begging for Pete’s sake. He was bending so low to reach the boy it wasn't even a figure or speech.

"We can try I guess."

Bucky was good to Peter on the strange mechanical tube floating through the clouds. Peter would look out of the window and see the ocean far far below. It made him feel a million feet tall, which was cool. "Buck! Look outside the boats are tiny!" Peter gasped. He didn't think he'd enjoy looking out the window, but a part of him was distracted from the fear when he saw a little boat go by when he knew very well it was a huge boat. 

Bucky tensed up a lot during the eight and a half hour flight. He would close his eyes and breathe deeply. At one point of major turbulence, Bucky seemed to start freaking out. He was panting and swaying like he had a flashback again. 

Peter was familiar with the “attacks” Bucky would get. Bucky had lots and lots of bad memories. Most of the time Bucky would get nervous after a bad dream. He saw things he wish he hadn’t. 

On the rare occasion Bucky would get nervous by things. Sometimes a sound, smell, or place would make Bucky remember a glimpse of a memory. Either one of two reactions ensued, Peter began to learn. Bucky felt remorse and longing, he would wish he saw more of the memory. Somethings made Bucky cry with pain. Peter didn’t like those attacks. Bucky would remember something awful and it would make Peter feel awful. Bucky never wanted to make Peter feel awful, but Peter really did care for the only real person to care for him.

“It’s okay, Buck. You don’t need to be scared.”

The blonde guy seemed to notice Bucky was having a bit of trouble. All the other people on the plane looked over. It made Peter feel very nervous. He didn’t want them to hurt Bucky. The larger man was vulnerable and the last thing he needed was people trying to hurt him. 

“Bucky? Are you alright?” Steve, Peter recalled him being referred to as, said.  
“Don’t hurt him. He’s upset about a memory. This happens. He said that when it does to walk away. He doesn’t like it when I see him upset.” Peter tried to reply calmly. Usually Peter would sit within visibility range so Bucky wasn’t lonely, but he knew he needed space. 

“Is he having a panic attack?” The woman with the red hair whispered. Her tone sounded like she cared, but Peter was never quite sure. 

The man with the facial hair stepped in. He and the man with the glasses seemed to know what they were doing. Peter watched intensely to make sure they didn’t hurt Bucky in any way.

“Hey, kid, why don’t we go over here?” Red hair lady coaxed. She noticed the tension in the area and wanted Peter to get away from it. Peter really didn’t want to leave Bucky, but the Winter Solider nodded through his panting. 

“Peter, right?” The red haired woman asked. Peter nodded at her, but his attention was not in the conversation. She switched the language to Russian, which caught Peter off guard. She had spoken in Russian earlier that day, but he wasn’t really thinking about that in the moment. “I’m Natasha Romanov. You speak Russian, don’t you?”

Peter looked up at the calm face of Natasha. Peter didn’t know many women. Most people at the facility were men. The few women Peter were familiar with were a few doctors and some of the neighbors from the places he and Bucky had stayed. Natasha seemed different from them. She had gentle eyes that seemed genuinely present for Peter. Being near Natasha made him relax a little. It helped that she was speaking a language he could speak more fluently. 

“Mostly. It’s where I grew up. I can speak loads of different things, just not super well. You don’t learn about much vocabulary in a single room.” Peter replied. He tried to make it seem like it was no big deal, but the face Natasha made after Peter said this made the young boy question how nonchalant that was.

“Where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Peter hadn’t really heard someone ask somethings o politely. Bucky didn’t ask a lot of questions. He just went with things. Doctors asked too many. The prodded Peter for information and Peter had to obey.

“The lab. Bucky and I used to live there. Then we decided not to and we left.” Peter fiddled with his fingers. He pulled at them and picked at his fingernails. He didn’t know what the right answers were supposed to be, and he hoped he wasn’t answering anything wrong.

“I see.” Natasha reasoned. She seemed deep in thought. “Where are you from, Natasha?” Peter asked. He didn’t seem harm in the question, but the woman tensed. “Lots of places.” She replied. It was vague and left a sense of mystery to the woman, but that ended the conversation.

Bucky was better. He seemed to be talked down by the other strangers. Steve stayed next to him the next few hours. Peter didn’t reply mind. Well, he minded a little. He wasn’t used to so many people, especially people who were hanging around his Bucky. Peter felt a weird emotion. He was a little mad that Steve took the chair next to Bucky and Bucky’s hand. He wanted those.

Peter kept to himself by looking at the clouds. They seemed so different looking down at them. It was fascinating to the boy. Distracting, really.

Peter didn't even remember the plane landing. He wasn’t sure what was happening until there was a feeling in his stomach like he was going to puke. It gave him a bad taste in his mouth; there were too many memories tied with that feeling. The plane jerked as it touched down on the ground and Peter involuntarily pushed back in his seat. 

Peter felt faster than light. He knew scientifically that wasn’t possible, but after the year he had anything was possible. Heck, even his past 24 hours seemed surreal. Being discovered by foreign “super-hero’s” with a mission to help him and Bucky and not wanting to send them back to the facility? Before that day Peter would have thought the speed of light seemed more realistic. 

Bucky and Peter stepped down the staircase of the jet on to a runway. In the distance, Peter saw mountains unlike any he had seen. Peter had been told what cities were. He had been to Saint Petersburg and Moscow. This was different, though. This city felt like a science fiction book. It was unlike any landscape the nearly nine year old had ever seen. Tall buildings lined the skyline behind him, miles and miles of man’s creation. 

“Well then,” Tony, Peter had learned, said as he fixed his jacket. “Welcome to New York City, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter doesn’t have much actual plot it’s most filler! I really wanted to flesh the characters out more and develop them a bit. They don’t completely align with canon because this an AU, but I’ve been trying my best to keep their traits there while plotlines have been shuffled. There will be more to explain about the Universe, but I thought now was the time to give some insight on how I’m planning out this story and the events I want to happen! Thank you all so much for enjoying I enjoy writing this (even when chapters take me days to write because writer’s block is hard.) I am also working on a really long one shot that I couldn’t bare to put in different parts so it will be a little bit before that’s out (I will put a teaser down here now so scroll if you don’t want it!)
> 
>  
> 
> Tony Stark and Pepper Potts had a son: James Anthony Stark. James was a happy and brilliant baby. Tony and Pepper loves him fully.
> 
> Then there was the accident.
> 
> James wasn't breathing. He was driven frantically to the hospital. That's when they never saw their son again, he doctors told them he had died. But they never got the body, which left the Starks with more questions that answers.
> 
> Peter Parker is "adopted" by Benjamin and May Parker. They had been trying to conceive for years to no avail, and the court wouldn't let them adopt because of Ben's criminal record. So the two stole one of the richest two year olds on the planet and raised him as their own son. 
> 
> Find out what happens when Peter and Tony unknowingly meet again in my one shot that is in the works: In Your Arms Again!
> 
> Love you all! -Po


	7. Avengers Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So you're telling me that the world renowned assasin Winter Soldier has a son?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow a week between chapters I’m sorry. I’ve been busy, but I know that’s a lame excuse. There will be more notes at the end for those interested, but I wanted to give people an unedited and likeut inchoernet chapter because some of y’all have been waiting ages. I wrote this in a few days so it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, I’ll edit in the morning like I usually do.

"Well then, Welcome to New York City, I guess."

Natasha had learned some new information about Peter that was itching at her brain. The child had grown up in the secret underground Russian laboratory that was known for torture and experimentation. He had probably been through trauma even she couldn't imagine. The trained Assassin and former Soviet Spy was prepared for everything. She had to be. She wasn't however, prepared to feel an awful pity on this small child.

The ride to the Avenger's tower felt longer than usual. There was an eerie stillness in the air. Everyone, Natasha could tell, felt weighed down by the atmosphere. Nobody wanted to upset Bucky further with questions, but the four Avengers were quite frankly riddled with them. Natasha was anxious and fearful to see how the others would react when the returned. 

This display was not at all what they were expecting.

Peter never left Bucky's side the entire day Natasha had known him. She wants familiar with typical children, but she was pretty certain this was unusual behavior. He seemed very attached to the Soldier, and she knew that would make it hard for them to get to questioning either one of them alone. This mission was more difficult than Black Widow had hoped.

Natasha had noticed that the child addressed itself as "Pauk" when he was asked for a second name. He obviously  wasn't familiar with the concept of a surname, but she was fascinated and troubled that Peter had answered that he was "spider." Her pseudonym was Black Widow, a deadly spider, after all. She was beginning to notice striking similarities between the young boy and herself.

Natasha was mid thought pecking together every bit of information she had available when the car pulled to a halt. 

"Here we are." Tony said as he adjusted his sunglasses back over his eyes and opened his side of the door. Bruce and him exited the car, but Steve had other plans first.

Steve turned to Bucky and Peter next to him. Peter was desperately looking up to Bucky liked he needed reassurance and/or instruction. 

"This is where you'll be staying for a little while. You'll be safe here, don't worry. There's lot of security, and we have plenty of trained people like you who want to protect you." Steve said with a caring smile. Something about the Captain made him always seem like what he was saying was right. He even made Natasha feel calmer when she wasn't nervous from the get go.

"Come on, now. We'll show you to your rooms so you can get settled." Steve insisted as the all stepped out of the car together. 

Natasha was used to the tower. The lovingly nicknamed Avenger's tower was where she had been living for a few years. It was comforting to have somewhere secure to return to. She hoped that Bucky and Peter could find that same security. 

The elevator made the familiar ‘ding’ it did when they reached the floor. The six people filed their way out into the main living room of the Avenger’s section of the Stark Tower. 

The remaining six avengers present at the tower stopped and turned to the people now stepping out. Natasha scanned the room at the faces of her peers. There were dozens of emotions happening simultaneously. They gawked and gaped at the fact there was a literal child. The team had been informed Bucky had a child with him when he was located, but this ring helpless boy wasn’t what anyone was really expecting. 

“We’re back.” Tony said calmly as he went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He took out the milk gallon and was about to chug it straight before he caught Steve’s disapproving glance and lured himself a large glass instead. 

"Who's the child?" Clint asked as he munched on his cereal. It was early in New York, and Natasha was sure they had intruded on breakfast time at Stark Tower. 

Natasha saw that little Peter was nervous. He probably didn't like all the attention he was getting. It was understandable. A bunch of superhero strangers were all eyeing him at once. If Natasha was in a similar situation she thought that she would probably also feel a little scared and intimidated. 

"Well, we have reason to believe he is a sort of 'ward,' if you will, of the Winter Soldier." Bruce replied. 

"So you're telling me that the world renowned assasin Winter Soldier has a son?" Sam asked. He was at the edge of his seat in disbelief.

Wanda and Vision exchanged a look between them. Neither of them had encounter Bucky before, and were probably in shock of the massive man with a metal arm just as much as they were in school that he was tightly gripping a small boy. 

“So did you get the intel?” Rhodey asked. Natasha swallowed. They handy exactly learned about HYDRA’s secret base and it’s location; they couldn’t quite go and destroy it yet. 

“We don’t have much yet. It seems like it’s going to be a process. The important thing for us is that we have The Winter Soldier with us and his friend. We will let them adjust before we can really get any information.” Bruce explained. He always knew what to say to appease everyone. The doctor’s rational demeanor and way of handling situations made Natasha admire him.

Natasha hasn’t really been paying attention to Peter and Bucky. She did, however, overhear Peter whisper to his guardian. “What is happening? Why do they ask so many questions?” Suddenly, Natasha realized how much the boy actually had been frightened. He was in a completely new environment and needed time to adjust. He was only a child, after all.

“We should show them to their rooms. Natasha urged. She nudged Steve on the shoulder as a way of coaxing him to join her. Initially, their rooms were down the hall from each other; after seeing how attached there were, however, Bruce volunteered to give up his room next to where Bucky’s would have been so they could at least be next to each other. 

The two seemed to be in utter shock when Natasha opened their room doors. The rooms were quite large, and compared to the shack they had been previously living in, Natasha imagined it looked like a mansion. She couldn’t even imagine how a room in the Avengers Tower would compare to that of in this super secret HYDRA facility. 

Better, she decided. 

With Peter and Bucky comfortable in their respective rooms, Natasha and Steve returned to the main room. Talking ceased as they walked in, and all eyes turned to them. They gestures like they wanted something, information most likely. 

“We were just talking.” Bruce interjected the silence. “We aren’t quite sure what the next logical step is. We’re bringing the team up to speed with everything we know, but the truth is that that’s not much. We need to approach them with questions if we’re going to take down HYDRA.”

“But Bruce,” Steve replied, his voice small but stern. “We can’t just go in and expect them to obey us. Bucky’s been hurt by HYDRA for years, I doubt us bringing them up would result in immediate responses. He’s not the most open person.”

“Peter’s from HYDRA, too.” Natasha blurted out. Peter didn’t exactly tell her that in confidence, but she felt like it was their sort of secret for the past two hours. Everyone stared at her. 

“He-he told me that he was another experiment there. They did horrible things, I imagine. He’s traumatized. I agree with Steve, we need to approach with caution.”

The team hadn’t been expecting that from Natasha. They obviously had suspicions about the mysterious boy who attacked Tony out of nowhere and followed The Winter Soldier like a duckling, but having those suspicions confirmed as the boy being a prisoner and subject to torture was unsettling.

“No matter how we go about this,” Rhodey asserted. “We need to do it before HYDRA tries any funny business with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has been up for a month today! Wow! Also if any of you watch voltron converse with me because my klance heart has feelings. If you aren’t Voltron people, I can tell you I was at comic con this weekend and met Evangeline Lilly and she’s a sweetheart. Gonna have to include ant man and the wasp in here at some point. Cosplaying at comic con is so fun though and that consumed most of my time this week, sorry. But hopefully I’ll get a few more good chapters in here before school starts up. Things will be slower then, unfortunately. Sorry for my notes being long. Hope you all are liking this story. Leave any suggestions for plot points you want in the Comments! I have vague ideas with where I want this to go, but I’d be willing to see how readers want it! Love you all- Po


	8. Enigma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, today is August 10th.” 
> 
> "Yeah, it is Pete. Just like yesterday was August 9th. It's pretty neat how days change every single day."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been over a week I know! I’m sorry, but I can’t say it won’t happen again because I don’t know. I hope this chapter makes up for the Hiatus because I really like the concept of this, and it foreshadows some stuff I want to bring up later.

The days moved by for the escapees at the Avengers Tower. Bucky was starting to get more adjusted with these new people around. It had been hard for the first few days, especially for Peter. 

Bucky was already familiar with Steve and knew he could trust him. He didn't have all of his memory restored , but there was a sense of comfort that followed Steve. There was just something about him. Bucky even saw that him and Peter were similar. Bucky had this want to protect Peter from all the danger he faced, and the memories most prominent for Steve came up being him protecting the soldier when he was much smaller. There was a similar bond Bucky felt, and he assumed that was why he trusted the blonde so easily. 

Peter, on the other hand, had trouble in the beginning gaining that trust with people. There were so many unfamiliar faces for a young kid like himself that he found it overwhelming. The other Avengers, and even Bucky to an extent, were worried about Peter's slow adjustment. Dr. Banner, or Bruce as Bucky had learned, was a biologist and considered himself the most knowledgeable on Peter's psychological situation.

He explained that it was a common symptom of PTSD, which they all figured the child suffered from to an extent. 

"Peter seems to be lacking trust because of his past experiences. He thinks we might hurt him, I presume, and we need to take things slowly. I also noticed that he has been softening toward Natasha and Wanda more. This could potentially be because he distrusts men, for the most part at least," Bruce looked at Bucky, "because those were who. . . experimented on him. Bucky had mentioned it was mostly men in the facility, and the lack of female presence may cause his gravitation toward them."

Bucky was impressed with Dr. Banner's knowledge on psychology for not being one himself. He was a very smart man, Bucky concluded. 

Eventually, after a good couple weeks of slow progression, Peter did warm up to the other teammates. He was still wary, but he would converse with other freely and laugh and play even. Bucky felt immense pride in how far the young spider had come in nearly a year. Bucky had met him as this scared scrawny boy, but he had since been a more happy, outgoing, and almost regular kid. Almost.

Bucky still worried about HYDRA with every move. When the avengers went out for a mission, Bucky worried that while they were out Peter and he would be captured. Even being with the world's mightiest heroes, Bucky knew deep down they'd find them eventually. As much as Bucky wanted to think it was over, he knew it wasn't. 

Bucky tried to keep Peter uninvolved with his paranoia. And it worked well. Peter was becoming more of a happy and carefree boy, like a normal child his age would be.

One day in early August, three weeks after moving into the penthouse “Avengers Tower” section of Stark Tower, Peter seemed unusually giddy. Bucky wasn’t particularly ‘concerned’ or anything, but more curious. 

The gang was sitting to eat breakfast when Clint asked the kid, “You seem unhappy happy. What’s on your mind today?”

Peter poured chocolate milk into his cereal before answering. “Well, today is August 10th.” Bucky had never heard Peter mention this particular date at anytime before. "Yeah, it is Pete. Just like yesterday was August 9th. It's pretty neat how days change every single day." Sam replied jokingly. Peter smiled and Bucky was glad the boy could pick up sarcasm, because it was something Bucky had to re-familiarize himself to after being used to direct commands for decades. 

"No. This was always one of the coolest days on the calendar. The doctors would always change my number on the chart, which was exciting. Last year they changed it to eight, so I'm assuming it would be nine now. Dr. Petrov used to say it was to see how old I was, which was pretty cool." 

Everyone turned around at breakfast to look at each other. Bucky was perhaps the most stunned. The kid had a birthday he failed to mention for the year they had known each other. He clearly didn't know what a 'birthday' actually was, Bucky had asked that question early on. He had said he wander sure and Bucky never pressured it. 

"I didn't know you had a birthday, Sport." Clint broke the shock. "Is that what it's called?" Peter asked as he munched his Honey Nut Cheerios with Chocolate Milk. 

Wanda whispered to Vision just loud enough so Bucky also heard "How does HYDRA know when the kid's birthday is?" Bucky's began thinking, too. There was more to Peter than Bucky had initially realized.

“Peter, how about we go color somewhere else?” Natasha chimed in. She could read a room very well, perhaps from her rigorous espionage training. She knew the team wanted to talk a bit amongst themselves. 

With Peter gone, Rhodey was the first to speak. “So the kid has a birthday we didn’t know about. Well? We can’t just do nothing!” Clint nodded in agreement “That’s the thing my kids look forward to every year. It’s a day to celebrate them, we can’t ignore if it Peter’s.  
He’s like my kid when I have to be away from mine for so long, we have I do something special for him.”

“I didn’t know.” Bucky whispered. The team stops their planning to look over at him. His head was down and he was playing with his thumbs. “I didn’t even know Peter’s own birthday. I’m the worst.” He was close to crying in all honesty, but he couldn’t do that to the most powerful team on earth. Vulnerability was not praised in the facility, and he felt like it was his biggest weakness. 

“Hey, Buck, it’s okay. We’re going to make his first birthday out of the lab the best one any nine year old has ever seen. It’s not your fault.” Steve reassured the soldier. He always knew exactly what to say. It was like that was in the list of his superpowers. 

“Okay, if we can continue with a surprise party we need Peter out of the house for a few hours.” Wanda suggested. “I’d say take him around New York a little. He’s been here three weeks and barely has done sightseeing.”

So it ended up being that Tony and Bucky would go take Peter while the rest of the Avengers worked on making the coolest kid’s party ever. It wasn’t a usual day for ye superheroes, but it was going to be a fun one.

Tony volunteered himself to show around New York. He knew all the best places, he claimed. Steve wanted to do it, but the rest of the team insisted he would be good at planning. 

Tony didn’t want a lot of publicity, so they avoided a lot of the major tourist-y places. They did, however, walk a little while around mid-town. Peter went crazy looking at Times Square. He thought it was so cool, and it was very different from all the small town, wilderness environment he has become accustomed to in the past year. Bucky knee he had been in New York before, but he was quite sure it wasn’t anything like what he was seeing. Everything was so bright and flashy. It was overwhelming, to say the least. 

They found a little museum that seemed quiet enough for Tony’s taste, and Peter began running around looking ate everything there was to look at. One of Bucky’s favorite things about Peter was how eager he always was to learn. He loved knowledge and basically absorbed it like a sponge. 

“I don’t think we’ve talked very much.” Tony said as he stared off at the small boy, but it was clear to Bucky that the statement was directed to him. There was a long pause before Tony spoke again.

“He’s lucky-Peter- that he has someone like you. You two really care for each other. That’s important for someone with a troubled past. They need someone who’s always got their back. I’m glad you’re there for him, even if I don’t personally like you too much.”

Bucky wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, Tony had said he didn’t like him very much. That was hurtful because he and Tony rarely spoke. Tony almost seemed to hate him since before they met. But the billionaire was being very sincere now. He seemed to have a troubled pasts as well, and he was deeply speaking from the heart when he said that he was glad Peter had good care. Bucky felt. . . touched.

“So.” Tony continued, “We don’t know much about the kid’s past do we? Like, nobody knew it was his birthday, what more do we not know?”

“I-I don’t know.” Bucky truthfully replied. He wasn’t sure, and that put a whole new perspective on everything. “I know that he lived his whole life in HYDRA, he was experimented on harshly, and he went through many doctors. I don’t know a whole lot, and now I feel like I should.”

“Give him time.” Tony turned around to actually face Bucky. “That’s all we can really do. He’ll come to us when he’s ready.” The billionaire patted Bucky’s metal arm and began to walk away. 

“Come on sport!” Tony called out as he walked. “We’ve got places to be.”

Tony was an enigma to Bucky. He couldn’t quite figure out his motives of his emotions as clearly as, for example, Steve. 

The three drove back to the tower.

Bucky felt nervous himself as the numbers on the elevator climbed. He hadn't been at a surprise birthday since. . . He couldn't remember. Literally.

The elevator made a ding noise as it shifted to a halt. Tony was the first to step out of the elevator, with Peter unsuspectingly trailing behind.

"Surprise!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally am able to get some major plot points I want to get to. There’s a lot of places I want to take this AU, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take for me to get there. Might be an extra long one next time because there are some time skips I’m gonna need to do. Until I manage to post here again, have my new fic on my page “Secrets of a Spider” to satisfy you. I really like that AU as well. I’m planning on updating that before this, so go check it out. I’ll leave the description of it here. Also yes I know “In Your Arms Again” is gonna come. I’ve prioritized this now, but we will see when I get around to finishing that. Thanks so much for continuing to support my stuff! Love you!
> 
> Secrets of a Spider:  
> Peter Parker is just an ordinary New York teenager with some extraordinary secrets. He's the superhero Spider-Man that everyone in Queens is talking about. He also is a trans boy trying to erase his past before bullies find another thing to tease him about. 
> 
> He's trying to hide two major things in his life from everyone, but he can't keep secrets forever. 
> 
> "Sooner or later," Peter said into his camera, "everyone is gonna find out." (You can tell I have a soft spot for Pete oh well)


	9. Surprises and Drawings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Surprise!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s been taking forever! Thank you all for supporting me though it’s been a while! I haven’t abandoned this quite yet

All the Avengers who had stayed at the tower only had a couple hours to pull off a nine-year-old birthday party like nobody had ever seen. 

Wanda was in charge of decorations. She happily admitted that she had no idea what she was doing, but all the good jobs seemed to have been taken. Vision was hanging streamers every couple inches or so along the windows. He was being "mathematically strategic" which was a benefit of being a robot she assumed. Wanda, some Vision didn't technically breathe, was busy blowing up balloons. She blew up all sorts of colors because they didn't know if the boy had any real preference over them. She was also, while having a yellow balloon in her mouth, telekinetically moving the chairs to one large table and laying a red table cloth over that. She felt pretty useful at times, even if the rest of the team was scared of her powers. 

Wanda wasn't quite sure who was inviting so many of their superhero friends, but nearly everybody she ever heard of were soon showing up. 

Steve still had the cake in the oven when Tony's voice rang through the house. He had most likely told FRIDAY to send in a message.

"We're on our way back in front of schedule. See you guys soon."

The entire room went quiet for only a moment before chaos ensued. Thor felt like he was too large to fit into any of the hiding spaces that all the others were in and was panicking. Scott was just running back and forth for whatever reason. Sam kept listing things ty still hadn't done, which was making Steve panic as well. Bruce was frantically trying to keep everyone calm despite it all.

Rhodey turned off all the lights and yelled "Get into positions people! We don't have time to be worrying because this kid is going to come back and we need for him to have such an awesome birthday. It looks great. Clint, don't you dare eat that ice cream or I will come over there. Natasha, don't encourage them. Now come on people just pick a place to hide already!"

Wanda sat behind the couch, a popular spot, and noticed that Loki was just standing in the middle of the room still. "Loki. We are surprising a child. You must take cover!" Thor motioned to his brother. "I don't get it. The mid guardian will be just as surprised to see the great and awesome Loki in the main room. I wouldn't dare sit on the floor either. We all know Stark isn't one for cleaning. 

Everyone sighed. Wanda had a fantastic idea and moved one of the blankets on the couch and draped it over him without moving from her position. 

Before the god of mischief could protest, the elevator chimed. Everyone went silent before "Ding!" The doors slid open. 

"Surprise!" 

Wanda hadn't seen Peter as happy as he was the day they threw the surprise party before then. Before the little boy always seemed frightened and lonely, but he seemed to be more energetic and talkative when he was at his own birthday, what they supposed was the first time it had officially been celebrated. 

Seeing the Avengers interact with such a small yet powerful boy was. . .interesting to say the least. In physical strength and mental capacity, Wanda was quick to learn and that he matched and even exceeded many of the teammates. He would certainly be a useful asset in the future, but there was something morally wrong of subjecting kids to the difficulties that were battle.

Wanda felt the closest to Peter’s situation. She, too, has been a weapon of HYDRA a couple years ago. She, however, remembered a life outside of the facilities. Peter did not. But she knew more than many how difficult living in a HYDRA facility was, especially for a young super-human. She and her twin brother Pietro lived that life not as long ago as Wanda would have liked to admit.

Seeing Peter brought tense memories to Wanda. The little boy just reminded her of Pietro, and not just the obvious similarity of names. She saw Peter as a little brother around the Tower in these past couple of weeks and that scared her more than she was willing to admit. She loved Pietro as her only real family for a long time, and losing him left an unfillable void in her soul. She didn’t want that relationship again, so she tried keeping a distance with the young spider.

Laughing and singing filled the tower, both of which were unfamiliar noises to the walls. The days following Peter’s ninth birthday seemed lighter and calmer. Peter and Bucky became more at ease with their surroundings. Before everyone could even blink the hot New York sun was turning to autumn.

There came a serious day in late august where a few of the Avengers worried if they should send Peter to school. One of the arguments was that he had never been before and it might be scary, but he needed to learn how to be a child before he wasn’t anymore.

Wanda would’ve said that he was no longer a child: He had seen the worst of the world and experienced only the unthinkable, but she believed they all knew he would never have the chance to be a real kid. Maybe that’s why they tried as hard as they could.

If Wanda wanted wanted to say something in these conversations involving Peter, she didn’t. 

Peter enjoyed the rest of his summer with board game nights and coloring. Steve would often partake in the coloring with him. It was lunchtime, and Wanda was in the kitchen making herself a Peanut-butter and Jelly sandwich. She heard some whispers coming from the next room, but she wasn’t one to eavesdrop and tuned it out. Wanda was busy smearing peanut-butter thickly on a piece of bread when she felt a slight tug on her pant leg. She turned around as quickly as she possibly could, assuming there was danger and initiating her primal fight or flight responses. 

To Wanda’s suprise, beneath her was a blushing Peter holding out a loosely folded piece of white paper. He quickly looked up to match her shocked face, but upon seeing no clear reaction he turned his head away again. 

“Is this. . .f-for me?” Wanda asked. She and Peter had not done much “bonding” like Peter and the other Avengers had been, so she was genuinely taken aback to see the young boy was giving her something. Peter nodded slowly. He was constantly seeking approval and Wanda knew he assumed the worst of situations, so she gave him a warm smile.

“I’ve been making things for everyone since it has been a month now. It’s a thank you, for letting me stay here. I know you don’t really like me, but you’ve been nice so that’s nice.” He paused as Wanda took the sheet of paper and unfolded it.

It was a drawing of the two of them under a big rainbow. The rainbow was in the wrong order and also included black and brown, but it was neatly done. Wanda didn’t know what to do or what to say. 

Peter started to walk dejectedly away. “Peter, wait.” Wanda interjected.

“Thank you.” She said as he now walked away with a more satisfied gait.

Everything was going to be alright.

 

For a little while, that is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating? Sometime


	10. Spider Senses on Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There, backlit by a yellow toned kitchen light, was the silhouetted figure of a woman dressed as a common witch. Nothing particularly weird about her struck anyone with Peter, such as the disguised Avengers in their “exciting” Halloween costumes. Peter, though, felt more uneasy than he had all week. She handed out candy with a warm smile any 40-year-old woman on door duty would, but it was her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha it's been two months. Unfortunately, I am not dead. Thanks to my boyfriend because he has been peer pressuring me to update this since forever. Enjoy! Hope it was worth the wait. (The very, very, very long wait) It's a filler bit right now, but I have some more action and things in my queue.

Summer swept into autumn. Peter enjoyed an autumn that wasn’t consistent with fleeing HYDRA, but they were still kept in the backs of everyone’s mind. Peter went to a private school in midtown. The Avengers figured it would be hard to adjust a child who had never been to school into a public school, and the private school could offer more extra help for a fourth grader who had never been to school before. He learned quickly, they realized, and made up for his lack of real-world knowledge with his willingness to learn. By the end of the first quarter of school, the Avengers were happy to admit he was at the same level as his peers.

The school was weird for Peter. His first week was scary. Kids tried talking with him, but Peter felt overwhelmed by the plethora of grubby hands touching him and touching everything else. He was one of the youngest kids in the 4th grade, which didn’t help his case. All the kids seemed to know each other and weren’t the most welcoming because of that.

Peter liked Ms. Ricci, though. Ms. Ricci was his fourth-grade teacher. She spoke softly to Peter and was so excited when he first answered a question in class. Any other teacher either was not patient enough with the boy or would treat him like he was a 3-year-old which he, in fact, was not. When Peter answered a question, no matter if it was right or not, he got a sticker, which he was eager to show Bucky at dismissal every time.

Peter felt weird without Bucky’s presence in the classroom. It felt wrong to spend hours every day without him. After spending so long in solidarity with his lone wolf soldier, the spider boy felt like he was missing something in his life: Bucky.

Ms. Ricci didn’t immediately know it was the Avengers that Peter lived with. Bucky would walk him out of the classroom or Natasha would come in one of her disguises. The first time Natasha came to pick-up, Ms. Ricci was quick to say, “Oh! Are you Peter’s mother?”

Natasha wasn’t quite sure her response but instead decided that “I’m his aunt” was the safest route without any questions. Ms. Ricci apologized and such things weren’t brought up again.

The other time where a lack of parents in Peter’s life was when he first went to his friend Ned’s house. Ned Leeds sat in front of Peter in class. He was a larger boy, but Peter found comfort in their similar quirks and interests. Ned taught Peter a lot about what being a kid was with some much needed first-hand experience. Ned showed Peter all the Star Wars movies, which fascinated Peter and made him quickly show everyone back at the tower. 

Peter also sat with Ned’s cousin Michelle. Michelle was different, but Peter didn’t mind. She had lots of interesting facts to spontaneously bring in to lunch conversations. Michelle was quiet mostly, though. 

When Peter first went to Ned’s house, he got a real glimpse of what a “typical” childhood consisted of. Ned didn’t ask a lot of questions, rather he would talk and talk. But it became apparent to Ned how much Peter was unaccustomed to everyday occurrences for other children. Ned showed Peter his backyard first. 

Halloween was fastly approaching, it would be Peter’s first official one. The Avengers had not formally celebrated Halloween in quite a while and were excited on the child’s behalf. Clint had made arrangements for Peter to Trick or Treat with his own kids so he wouldn’t be alone with a swarm of adults. Peter had become friends with Cooper and vicariously Lila because they were around the same age. Cooper was much more into sports, though, so they had little common interest when he was brought over for playdates. It was nice to have someone else, though, he decided. 

Peter’s was so excited to try on his Luke Skywalker outfit he didn’t even wait until the following week. He wore it around the tower constantly. Ned was going to be Boba Fett and they could be together at school. Peter suggested to Michelle that she be Princess Leia, but she insisted on being Darth Maul instead. He wouldn’t be trick or treating with them, but he didn’t mind the quiet neighborhood of the Bartons.

Even though Peter was indeed very ecstatic for his Halloween adventure, he began a feeling of uneasiness. He initially passed it off as nerves. Ned said it was about the big spelling bee in a few days that made him nervous. Peter agreed because he wanted to win the mystery prize but he was still not the best speller because of his unfortunate disadvantages. But Peter felt progressively worse, as though he had that feeling when you sit on your legs too long but everywhere in his body. It all led up to knocking on door 115 on Beaker Street. 

There, backlit by a yellow toned kitchen light, was the silhouetted figure of a woman dressed as a common witch. Nothing particularly weird about her struck anyone with Peter, such as the disguised Avengers in their “exciting” Halloween costumes. Peter, though, felt more uneasy than he had all week. She handed out candy with a warm smile any 40-year-old woman on door duty would, but it was her eyes. 

The way they lingered just a moment too long on Peter made sirens flare. Peter felt the world collapse. This was what he was being warned about, but why? Why this woman? What could possibly be with this woman?

They were about to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best, chapter, but I finally have a couple ideas with this story. When I next update, before the New Year let's hope, it will be a longer one. I plan on making this about 20-25 chapters total so almost halfway there folks. Thanks for those who have been sticking with me. It's been a hard time with schoolwork piling up and my unfortunate lack of free time. I know I'm just making excuses but truly thank you all.  
> :)))))) - Po


	11. Troubles up here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony would ask how school was every day, and Peter would make sure he told the awaiting Avengers only about Ned and his new pigeon friend they made at recess or the new high mark on his test and at all costs avoided talking about people like Flash.
> 
> The Avengers dedicated their lives to protecting people. Peter was sure that they would feel betrayed if one of their own couldn’t even protect himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I like to switch up POV but I really wanted to do more with Peter’s POV so I’m sorry if people don’t like my sudden style shift but I wanted to delve into Peter’s psyche because as someone who loves psychology this is so cool for me to write.

Peter tried to ignore the lady down the street from the Bartons, but she was often on his mind. He’d close his eyes and see her long fingernails tapping impatiently on the orange candy bowl. Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound repeated through Peter’s consciousness like a distant echo ricocheting endlessly throughout a dark abyss. 

The thing that Peter hated most about this was that he wasn’t sure how to tell the Avengers. Things were finally beginning to be normal for him. He was getting more and more independence, which was good for him. Peter so badly wanted to be a normal kid, and he feared he never would be. 

At school, Peter was a sympathy case. He was smart, very smart in fact, but his lack of social skills and “real-world” knowledge made it hard. Kids picked on him a lot. Peter tried to be the bigger person metaphorically about those matters when the small boy could not physically be. 

Back at the Tower, Peter was a fragile little boy with a troubled past. He was a glass vase that people were delicate around. It made Peter feel less important. People had good intentions, sure, but good intentions aren’t always in good interest.

At least there was Ned Leeds. Ned made Peter feel like a normal kid. Peter would have sleepovers at his house. Ned would talk and talk for hours about every minute detail of his life, and Peter was more than content to simply listen. 

Peter hadn’t had any “friends” before Ned. How could he in the facility? Ned assured Peter he was not used to the concept much either. Ned said his only friend was his cousin Michelle, and while Peter was not completely familiar with the concept of cousins, Ned told Peter kids found it weird when you were relatives to your only friends. 

Ned had a large family, even for Peter’s warped perspective of one. Ned’s mom was one of 13 children, a concept that completely baffled Peter, and she was the oldest. Ned explained that his youngest Uncle, his mom’s brother Eddie, was 14. Peter wasn’t sure how that worked, but he shrugged it off. He liked it when Ned talked about his family because he knew how happy it made Ned, but it made Peter feel off. He couldn’t describe it, but it was like he knew he would never have something quite like that. 

Ned only once tried to ask about Peter’s family. Peter got tense. It was a hard subject to say the least, and he wasn’t quite sure how to phrase it. Bucky was the closest thing he had to a “real” family per se. Peter never had a traditional mother or father, though. He didn’t have 13 aunts and uncles and a plethora of cousins to befriend. Peter got that feeling of longing again; he knew how unattainable that was for him. Peter missed out on so much because of his first 8 years in the laboratory. They were eight years he could never regain. 

So Peter told Ned he had a family like no other, and that he was happy. Ned took that and said nothing more, to Peter’s content. 

Bullies liked to flock toward Peter. He was significantly smaller than the other fourth graders both in height and body structure. This being coupled with his social ineptness made him a hot target for the typical elementary taunts. Those aren’t what Peter minded. What Peter minded was Flash Thompson.

Flash was your run of the mill sports kid who enjoyed little league football and aspired to be like his older brothers. He wanted the power and status they had over him and turned it to control over Peter.

He asked “Puny Parker” to give him the sandwiches that Thor would make for him every day. Thor was apparently a very good sandwich-maker, but Peter didn’t outrightly know that because Flash would always take the sandwich and eat it himself. Flash would even “brag” to Peter by eating with his mouth open; he would display the “trophy sandwich” to all brave enough. 

Tony would ask how school was every day, and Peter would make sure he told the awaiting Avengers only about Ned and his new pigeon friend they made at recess or the new high mark on his test and at all costs avoided talking about people like Flash.

The Avengers dedicated their lives to protecting people. Peter was sure that they would feel betrayed if one of their own couldn’t even protect himself.

Peter wished he were stronger. He wanted to be something he was not: brave. Peter was still in fear over HYDRA, over the lady from Halloween with the inexplicably long nails, of admitting his fears, and quite frankly of other people. There were tiny things that would freak him out, and that made him feel guilty.

Peter couldn’t develop a close bond to Dr. Banner, especially with the lab coat, because it was too reminiscent of the lab doctors and all the awful things they did to him. Peter felt anxious leaving Bucky every morning when he would go to school because he remembered the near year of his life where that would be a death sentence. 

He hated shots. Steve tried to coax him to get a flu shot, being fall and early flu season and all, but it took hours of Peter crying even seeing the thing. Steve didn’t know the extent, but there used to be things that weren’t vaccines in those needles. They weren’t there to help Peter, they were there to hurt. Nobody could ever understand that.

Peter went to bed the night of December 4th completely normal. He finished up his math homework early and ate the dinner Vision made (which wasn’t the best he had ever eaten but the Avengers liked to switch up the cooks every night, so robot lasagna was going to have to do.) Bucky shut off the light for him and tousled his hair. That made Peter laugh. Peter sighed and shut his eyes. He opened them to a blinding light. 

The lab. 

His hands were bruised. His mouth felt dry. Had he not been scared out of his mind, he would have laughed remembering Natasha telling him she felt like a raisin because her mouth was dry. It was an attempt at making Peter laugh, and while it worked at the time it wasn’t going to at this moment. 

Peter called out for anyone, but he didn’t recognize his own voice. He tried to stand up, but his legs were too long. His hair was too short, too. This wasn’t real, he concluded. 

A buzz came from above him: the intercom. He remembered that awful noise too well. It growled in a low voice with poor quality at him. 

“Hello, 0017. We’re expecting you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how long this next one takes me oof. Hope you all have a great holiday, whatever you celebrate! Get some sleep!


	12. The Nightmare before his Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Something isn’t right.” Peter said. His voice was as small as a mouse, and that perhaps terrified Bucky than any threat Bucky had initially thought was going to try and hurt the boy. 
> 
> “HYDRA.” Peter whispered so faintly that only fireflies could hear him. “They are coming for me, and they are not happy.”
> 
> “What do they want?” Bucky trembled. He remembered that Peter had these feelings about bad omens. Their time on the run gave him first hand experience on that. 
> 
> Tears formed in Peter’s soft young eyes. One might describe children’s eyes as innocent, but the young spider’s were anything but. He knew things, he saw things, he felt things that nobody should ever. But the way Peter sniffled and swallowed hard made Bucky want to protect this ‘innocent’ child from potential threats, HYDRA being more than included in that list. 
> 
> With a swallow Peter responded, “What’s rightfully theirs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little longer I know, hope you guys like my late new years gift to you. I was trying to update this ASAP because I left off on a bit of a harsh cliff, but I got side tracked again. I like to end suspensefully, if you haven’t already noticed, but I felt like I needed to give more clarification. It’s christmas and christmas is passed I know, I wanted to update this for christmas but I needed to post that previous chapter first. Also this was delayed by me taking driver’s ed, which was gross. Look out for this sucker on the road haha. I plan to update for my 16th birthday, as a present for all, so coming soon chapter 13! Love you all!

Bucky woke up to Peter screaming the absolute most terrifying scream Bucky had ever heard. That was partially because it was coming from Peter, and God forbid anything happen to Peter. That immediately made Bucky run next door to Peter’s room. He was analyzing what he could do should he need a weapon. He figured his own brute strength might ward off most things, but there isn’t such thing as being too well prepared. 

Bucky noticed the other Avengers waking up and coming out of their rooms as well equally prepared for combat. Bucky kicked down the door to see that Peter had bolted completely ninety degrees vertically in his bed. The bed was wet and Peter was frozen in what Bucky could only assume to be sheer terror. Tears were streaming down the young boy’s face, but he was making no effort to remove them.

“What’s the situation, Buck?” asked Tony asked. He might not have been the most nurturing person, but he was ready to lay down his life for the boy he only knew for a short amount of time. Bucky noticed most of the Avengers, if not all, were willing to do whatever it took for Peter, no matter the cost. It was admirable, to say the least. 

“I’ve got this,” Bucky said, sure to not break his eyes away from Peter, who was still completely immobilized. “Pete, bud,” He started. He tried not to sound scared, but if he was honest he was out of his mind. He wanted so desperately to keep Peter safe, and he felt like that wasn’t yet what he was doing. 

“Pete, talk to me,” He coaxed the nine-year-old. He gently put a hand on Peter’s shoulder as a sort of gesture of fondness, but Peter didn’t react like that was the case. Suddenly the boy who has been stiff as a nail, for lack of better terminology, went hysterical. In this hysteria, the young spider was crying and balled up on the opposite corner of the bed. 

“Pauk, please. I just want to help.” Bucky shooed away the other Avengers, but Steve stood firmly with his head still in the doorway. Bucky knew the others were still in earshot, but he wasn’t sure if Peter knew that. He figured it would be better if he didn’t. 

“Something isn’t right,” Peter said. His voice was as small as a mouse, and that perhaps terrified Bucky more than any threat Bucky had initially thought was going to try and hurt the boy. 

“HYDRA,” Peter whispered so faintly that only fireflies could hear him. “They are coming for me, and they are not happy.”

“What do they want?” Bucky trembled. He remembered that Peter had these feelings about bad omens. Their time on the run gave him first hand experience of that. 

Tears formed in Peter’s soft young eyes. One might describe children’s eyes as innocent, but the young spider’s were anything but. He knew things, he saw things, he felt things that nobody should ever. But the way Peter sniffled and swallowed hard made Bucky want to protect this ‘innocent’ child from potential threats, HYDRA being more than included in that list. 

With a swallow Peter responded, “What’s rightfully theirs.”

Bucky’s vision went soft, to put it lightly. Peter sounded so genuinely terrified, and he obviously had every right to be. But now, so was Bucky. 

Peter explained to all the Avengers his dream as well as his spider senses of danger. They felt more faint to him now, but he was obviously still mortified by his impending doom. 

The Avengers made it their all-time priority to keep Peter safe. Tony even installed programming in the Tower known as the Protect Peter Protocol and the Spider Sense System. Tony was apparently a sucker for alliteration, and he put these mechanisms in specifically for the young boy’s safety. If the Avengers could help it, nothing would ever happen to Peter. 

Bucky truly with all his soul wanted to keep it that way. 

Wanda had concluded it would probably be best for Peter’s sake and for the sake of the other superheros to try to live as normally as possible under the protocols. It would help everyone’s mindset from paranoia, which they all had experience with it getting out of control. 

Steve took it upon himself to turn their attention to happier matters. Christmas was fastly approaching, and Steve wanted Peter to be able to really celebrate it. Bucky explained that they had a small Christmas while on the run in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates it, and the pair of runaway HYDRA experiments were camping only a few miles from a village during the celebration. For Russia, though, Christmas is a little different. It would be interesting to be a part of a capitalized American holiday.

Shopping for gifts and listening to festive music seemed to lighten the high tensions, even if only by a small amount. Bucky enjoyed watching Steve and Natasha string garland around all the windows while singing “Deck the Halls.” Peter seemed to enjoy it as well and his mind seemed far from the hysteria he had felt after his nightmare. 

Bucky wasn’t quick to change his frame of mind. He wasn’t going to let his guard down, and while he knew the Avengers were still watchful as ever toward Peter, Bucky was not about to lose focus on the boy he cared so much about. Bucky had this sort of unspoken obligation to the child, and he wanted to do all he possibly could to uphold the obligation. 

Steve was so excited to tell Peter all about Santa Claus. According to Steve, it was the most beloved tradition of all of them. Steve was completely encapsulated by the Christmas Spirit, perhaps as a coping mechanism to keep any danger from his mind, and Bucky couldn’t help but be completely in awe of the enthusiasm. 

Peter was so excited to hear about Santa, but Bruce and Tony were apprehensive. “Nine years old is about when kids start to not believe in a magic wizard man who flies through the sky and brings gifts to all the good boys and girls. They’ve got common sense, Steve.”

“He never got the chance to have the wonder in his eyes to see everything under the tree on Christmas morning, Tony. It’s our duty to give him at least one day to be like a real kid,” Steve pulled at his fingers nervously. “I bet you he doesn’t feel like a normal kid right now.”

Bucky felt a pang in his chest knowing Steve had a fair point. Peter had the right to go through experiences that he was, to be frank, deprived of for those eight years in the lab. Bucky knew that maybe even more than anyone else could. 

Christmas in America meant buying presents for people, and while Bucky didn’t actually have his own money he still wanted to uphold the gift-giving tradition. He decided he would make little ornaments for everybody in the team as a pseudo-thank you for everything they had done for Peter and him. 

He kept some plastic bulbs in his bedroom that he bought while asking Tony for a little bit of money to get something for Peter, which he did partially use to get something, but the other part was getting supplies needed for this task. 

He painted the little ornaments with the names of the allotted hero and some of their signature colors. He soon had used up almost all of the reds but he was determined to finish so he made due by mixing black and pink. It ended up making this weird shade that wasn’t quite right, but he hoped nobody would really notice. 

He also made a special surprise for Peter: a little box. It was painted red and blue with a white latch, the colors of both the Russian and American flags. Inside Bucky left diary entries of their days on adventures. Bucky’s “diary” was more closely aligned with sentence summaries, but flipping through those sentences brought a sort of nostalgic feel to everything. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago the Avengers found their Norwegian hideout. 

Decorating the tree with all the Avengers was an unforgettable moment, to put it gently. A dozen adult superhumans and one small superhuman child all trying to put some lights and ornaments on an obscenely large fir tree in the common room of the Avengers Tower was not some simple feat. There was laughing and throwing of things that should not have been thrown. 

Bucky couldn’t help but smile seeing Peter get a piggy-back ride from Thor so he could be the one to reach the top of the tree. It seemed like for a moment, one small but meaningful moment, the world stopped. The future and the past alike were non-existent, and the only thing was this one moment, and that was the best feeling.

The past and the future weren’t gone, though. Bucky knew that too well. 

Christmas Day was Peter jumping on Buc3ky’s bed in an unfortunately successful attempt to wake the White Wolf up. Peter was yelling up and down the halls that Santa had come. Groggily, the Avengers came to see what Peter was so ecstatic about, and they saw more presents than they could have ever imagined.

Many of them were for Peter, as every superhero got him something, but they also took the opportunity to give to their fellow teammates. Peter insisted on opening anything that had wrapping paper on behalf of the adults because it was just too fun to tear that paper off. 

Everyone really liked Bucky’s ornaments, which made him feel happy. He never truly understood how being kind to others made you yourself feel happy vicariously, but he enjoyed the concept. It wasn’t something seen often in the lab. 

Bucky himself received a cozy “ugly sweater” from Wanda and Vision, who joint gifted everyone. Bucky thought it was charming and not ugly at all, but if everyone insisted it was ugly he wouldn’t put up an argument. 

Steve handed Bucky a small box wrapped with perhaps too many bows and ribbons, if that was such a thing. There were three photographs inside. Small wallet sized photographs. One of them was faded yellow and had some mystery stains, and there was a little piece torn off the top left corner of it. 

Seemingly vintage-esque photographs were cool and all for the average person, especially one missing and brainwashed in a prison laboratory for decades, but they weren’t just any run of the mill stock photographs: they were photos of Bucky.

The first one was all of the Avengers smiling. Bucky wasn’t sure who took it because they are all there, but he liked to see all of his new friends in one place. The second was a picture of Peter and Bucky. Peter is smiling and waving at the camera while hugging Bucky so Bucky’s body is turned away from Steve. The super soldier thought that was clever.

The last one was clearly very old. It was Steve looking significantly smaller in stature than the one standing before Bucky. They were holding popcorn and standing outside a blurry movie theatre. Bucky didn’t remember the photograph, but he smiled regardless. 

Bucky thanked Steve and put the photos into his front pocket where he knew he wouldn’t lose them. 

The team enjoyed cookies made by the one and only Bruce Banner, which was not that bad. Bucky had more than he would admit to. They all had a great time watching the pure happiness on everyone’s face. 

A gentle snow lay over the city that night. Peter was happy to see a snow where he wouldn’t be freezing in it. It felt like this was how it was meant to be. 

Bucky knew he had to keep this moment in his mind and save it near his heart, because he wasn’t sure what other memories the future would bring, but he doubted they could be this good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;) Hope you enjoyed! Until my birthday! Stay safe!


	13. School Time, Bad Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Bucky? What’s wrong?” Peter questioned as he came down the stairs. “It’s nearly ten thirty, we usually go out on the 11th at nine o’clock!” Bucky exchanged a somber look with Peter, which perplexed Ned even more. Peter seemed to understand one thing: something was wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I posted later than I wanted to, I ended up getting concussed right before my birthday and was kinda out of it for a little while. No, I am not a sports kid, I hit my head while fainting. Should be fine, though. Happy to be back writing for all of you! A Special thanks to my boyfriend who took four days to edit this chapter so it came out later than I wanted to Lol.

Ned had been in school with Peter for three years now, so it was hard to even imagine a time without him. Over those three years the pair had fostered a close relationship, and they were as inseparable as twelve-year-old boys could possibly be. 

Despite being such close friends, Ned wasn’t allowed over at Peter’s house a lot. Peter lived with his Uncle Buck in an apartment uptown, as far as Ned knew, and Buck worked for Stark Enterprises so he was over there a lot. Ned thought that was literally the coolest thing ever. 

In the three years that had passed, Peter had rapidly excelled in academic work, and he propelled from the lower parts of the class to the gifted programs. Ned wasn’t surprised, he claimed he always knew Peter was extraordinary, but he didn’t even grasp the half of it. 

“No fair!” Peter slouched, hands promptly crossed over his chest. “They should just make blue shells illegal.” 

“Another round?” Ned suggested as he dangeled the controller over Peter’s glum expression. “It doesn’t even have to be Mario Kart. I’ll let the loser pick.”

“Heh, funny.” Peter adjusted his seat in the gray patterned bean bag, then he checked his digital Iron-Man watch and bolted completely upright. “Jeez, Ned, why didn’t you tell me it was 10 already?”

“My mom was going to call Bucky to see if you could sleep over. I assume he said yes or otherwise you’d be leaving by now.”

Peter’s face darkened. “Ned, you don’t understand. It’s the 11th. Bucky and I go out on the 11th, remember? I’m missing out, and there’s no way he would just agree to skip out on ‘out’ night.” 

Only a few minutes later Ned’s mom came up to his room saying that Peter’s uncle was there so they should say their goodbyes. So, they took about ten minutes to say one word before they went downstairs to Bucky and Ned’s mom having a whisper talk in the kitchen.

“Bucky? What’s wrong?” Peter questioned as he came down the stairs. “It’s nearly ten thirty, we usually go out on the 11th at nine o’clock!” Bucky exchanged a somber look with Peter, which perplexed Ned even more. Peter seemed to understand one thing: something was wrong.

Bucky was silent for only a few moments, but it was enough to petrify Peter, and Ned knew his best friend well enough to know that Peter was terrified. “We had a situation at work that needed investigation. We knew you’d be safe at the Leeds’ for the time being. We can’t go out tonight, bud. I’m sorry.”

“Maybe you guys can go out later this week? I mean what big of a deal is it if you are out on like the 16th or something?” Ned suggested. He wasn’t quite sure what “out” entailed, but he was convinced it was something that could be postponable at the very least. 

Bucky fiddled with his fingers nervously. “Peter, I -” he paused like he was going to say something only to be interrupted by the realization that Mrs. Leeds and Ned were still a present part of this conversation.

“Mr. Barnes, Peter is welcome here anytime, really. He’s a better guest than my own siblings, and trust me when I say there are many of them.” Peter smiled at that, which prompted Ned to smile as well. “Don’t worry about having to come get him when you are caught up at work. You know we would love to have Peter here at the drop of a hat.”

Ned recalled that Peter was confused by his mother’s idioms and metaphors, which she was so inclined to speak in. Bucky similarly was unfamiliar with these phrases, and while he didn’t say so, Ned had an eye for the expression. He was used to how often Peter made it when Mrs. Leeds spoke. Ned figured Bucky was where he got the mannerism from.

“Yeah, me and Peter love to play videogames here!” Ned interjected just for the purpose of feeling included.

“Peter and I you mean, Ned.” His mother corrected him, immediately taking away that feeling of contribution. 

Bucky murmured to them, “Thank you. I know Peter likes hanging out here, too.” Peter nodded his head in approval. “We better be going, it’s getting late.”

And with that, and some final expressions of gratitude and departure, Peter and Bucky went out to Bucky’s red pickup truck before driving into the night. 

Ned woke up on the 12th of March like he did every other Thursday. He fumbled his way out of his twin bed and into the bathroom, where he fought with his older sister for the right to use it. She, like all stereotypical American teenagers, took an absurd amount of time to get ready in the morning. Ned could not understand high schoolers; he concluded that they certainly were odd. 

Ned sat in his first period English class alone, though. Peter and him were usually “study-buddies.” He had seen Peter literally less than 12 hours prior, how could somebody get sick in that short amount of time? Ned kept running through possibilities in his mind. Maybe they were “out” all night and Peter was allowed to sleep in. Maybe the work situation Bucky had meant he had to leave town. Ned recalled that had happened last year. 

The circumstances of this absence were not the usual Peter Parker skip circumstances, though. This made the twelve-year-old begin to worry, but only for a moment. He knew Peter was the adventurous type. Something probably came up. For the most part, Ned was more curious about where his best friend had gone off to than he was worried.

Ned grew more impatient each time Peter’s desk was empty. People asked Ned, “Hey where’s Peter?”, and Ned couldn’t answer truthfully because he honestly did not know. He normally said that Peter was likely off on some fantastical adventure.

Ned called Peter that night to no answer. Peter always answered his phone; he was a twelve-year-old boy and that’s what he lived and breathed. Peter got a cellphone for his tenth birthday, and Ned was beyond jealous. Only after a year and a half of pleading did Ned eventually get one as well. Peter always had really nice things if one paid attention. He didn’t flaunt “Gucci” or anything, but Peter seemingly had endless amounts of sneakers that might not have been the newest or most designer, but were always clean. Ned suspected Peter had a dozen sneakers because he had ones for every type of outfit. Typical of young boys, it seemed, to love shoes so much, but Peter had so many. It was one of the things Ned only secretly envied about him.

Of course, there were things Ned didn’t envy about Peter, though. Peter told Ned his parents died in Russia, and he never really knew them. Ned knew and loved his own mother, and he couldn’t imagine life if she had died when he was so young. Peter and Bucky moved to New York when Peter was 8, but Bucky’s super-secret work meant he traveled a lot and wasn’t home all the time. Ned would mind if his mom wasn’t home for days on end. He loved her. Although, he wouldn’t mind being able to say he had lived in a few different countries by the age of 9, but Ned knew that wasn’t something Peter was proud of. 

Ned wasn’t one to prod Peter for his past. Other kids at school would try to ask things, like why Peter knew so many languages or why he moved to Russia or why he lived with his Uncle or what his Uncle did. Ned knew it made Peter uncomfortable, and as a loyal friend he would never want to cause that if he could help it. 

Maybe Ned said something wrong the previous night, he thought. Peter wouldn’t answer all 7 calls Ned made, which meant all that curiosity was growing with a tinge of fear. Ned even got his mom to call Bucky to ask if Peter was okay, because Ned didn’t want something to be wrong.

A man that certainly was not Bucky answered the phone. Ned wasn’t supposed to eavesdrop, but he was curious and did it regardless. 

“Who’s this?” said the unknown man.

“Hi? This is Jasmine Leeds, Ned’s mom. This is Bucky, right? Peter’s uncle?” 

There was a moment of silence and ominous rustling, like voices were talking in the distance. Then, “He isn’t available right now. Can I take a message?”

Ned was confused. This was so weird, and that was saying something if it was about Peter Parker because everything about that boy was weird. 

“Ned missed him at school today, and I wanted to make sure everything was alright. Can you have him call us when he’s available?”

The voice hesitated again.

“When he is available, you will be of the first to know.” 

Click. The call ended. 

Ned’s mom was silent for a few moments. “That was of the weirdest phone calls I have ever had,” She announced, possibly to herself. 

Ned was more than suspicious, though, Something was wrong, and Ned needed to know what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently in the process of writing the next chapter. Don't want to leave you hanging for too long. Hope the time skip didn't feel too weird, I just felt like it might be easier to write these next parts if Peter was older and more accustomed to civilized life and if he had a closer bond to the other Avengers without it feeling too forced or anything. Thank you if you liked it, I'll be back soon for another chapter! Until Then!


	14. Fears over Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “They know we are some of the most heavily guarded towers in the world. It would be next to impossible to infiltrate us.” Natasha interjected.
> 
> “She’s right,” Steve continued as a shiver went down his spine. He was never one to argue with Bucky, but he was being over paranoid, or Steve certainly thought so at least. “Peter is safe while he’s here with us. We will guarantee it.” He put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort, but instead Bucky shrugged it off and turned back from the window towards the Avengers.
> 
> “I can’t explain it, but you have to trust me. Unless we fight back, they will hurt us. I’ve seen all they are capable of.” He looked up from hanging his head, and Steve caught a glimmer of fear glint in the strong brown eyes.
> 
> “I don’t understand this feeling I have, Steve, but somewhere in me knows that we haven’t seen the last of HYDRA yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poridiaa? Updating less than a month after the last chapter? Unheard of! I know, I know, 12 whole days since I last uploaded, but I've been working up a storm I'm already halfway done with the next chapter, too. Enjoy guys!!!

Something wasn’t right. 

The day was March 11th, and usually on the 11th of every month the Avengers would let Peter tag along on a mission. It was usually a less important one, but it was a promise they had made last Christmas and had abided by since then. But the mission for today was not some run of the mill kind of criminal activity. There were reports that made the Avengers believe that HYDRA was present not far from midtown. 

Peter went to school in Midtown. The Avengers lived in Midtown. If Steve was being completely truthful, he would say that these rumors were just too close to home. 

For the time being, Peter was at his buddy Ned’s house, and usually it would be around the time Bucky would leave to pick him up, but the potentially dire situation at hand called for an emergency all-Avengers present meeting. 

Tony gathered the team together for this important briefing: how to prepare for a potential HYDRA attack and protect Peter and Bucky in the process. With it being nearly four years since the escape, Steve had barely thought this was a possible event they would be having. 

On one hand it felt like only weeks ago that they found Bucky and Peter in the wildernesses of Norway. On the other, the tower just doesn’t feel right without either of them there. Steve could somehow vividly remember when they came but only hazily remember time without them. 

Tony began his spiel on protocol he put in place at the tower should there be an attack. Everyone was uncomfortably silent until Bucky piped up.

“We can’t just play defense. They will do all they can to get some of their most important assets returned. They’ve been plotting for years most likely. Sitting idly by as they try to hurt Peter again?” Bucky paused and sighed heavily. Steve noted the pain felt in his voice. “I can’t-I-I won’t let that happen.”

“They know we are some of the most heavily guarded towers in the world. It would be next to impossible to infiltrate us.” Natasha interjected.

“She’s right,” Steve continued as a shiver went down his spine. He was never one to argue with Bucky, but he was being over paranoid, or Steve certainly thought so at least. “Peter is safe while he’s here with us. We will guarantee it.” He put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder as a gesture of comfort, but instead Bucky shrugged it off and turned back from the window towards the Avengers.

“I can’t explain it, but you have to trust me. Unless we fight back, they will hurt us. I’ve seen all they are capable of.” He looked up from hanging his head, and Steve caught a glimmer of fear glint in the strong brown eyes.

“I don’t understand this feeling I have, Steve, but somewhere in me knows that we haven’t seen the last of HYDRA yet.”

The room waded in silence for quite a while. Steve fidgeted with the calluses on his fingers for an eternity. He was at a moral crossroads. Steve knew Bucky’s good intentions, and it was in everyone’s interest to keep Peter safe at all costs. He was just unsure fighting such a formidable enemy would only weaken them. But, he knew they could not wait it out forever. HYDRA was playing the long game here. 

Steve glanced around the room. He yearned wholeheartedly to hear everyone in the room’s thoughts. Their heavy expressions were usually a tell-tale sign that some sort of intriguing inner-dialogue was happening. They all knew, deep down in their hearts that is, that there was a painstakingly real chance that this moment would decide the fate of both the young boy they had grown to love over four years and the fate of their beloved friend with a metal arm and a dry sense of humor. 

Steve looked over at Bucky. This was the very man who once was a happy-go-lucky soldier, doing anything for the people he loved. Steve was glad to know at least one aspect of him hadn’t changed. But Bucky had not only aged a bit more from the time-locked memory Steve had of him, but also Bucky’s whole expression morphed into something more somber. Bucky had seen some things, had done some things, that Steve could not even fathom. He knew that, and he tried to understand that. This Bucky was no longer the same.

While he thought about it more, Steve was really glad Bucky had Peter. He had a person he could watch over and shower with love. The protege helped keep Bucky sane, or at least Steve would like to think so. Steve wouldn’t want to think about what Bucky would have done if he managed to escape on his own. He wouldn’t want to imagine Bucky solitary and wandering the forests of Eastern Europe. And Steve certainly didn’t want to dwell on what would have happened to Peter is he was left in that godforsaken laboratory for another second. He hoped in that moment he would never need to find that out. 

A sudden alert notification jolted everyone out of the deafening silence. The “ping” noise was only Peter’s texts coming through over FRIDAY. She read aloud in her robotic voice:

“Wednesday, March 11th at 10:09:19 PM. Sorry I didn’t text, I’ve been playing video games. Did you guys start without me? 

Wednesday, March 11th at 10:09:43 PM. Are you nearby? Should I be worried?

Wednesday March 11th at 10:10:04 PM. Ned says I can stay over. Bucky?”

Steve felt odd to hear things Peter wrote to them be read aloud in such a way. It felt jarring. Nevertheless, they had to respond. Steve suggested that they would have strength in numbers if they all went to pick him up. Tony vetoed that idea.

Tony led, “If we all leave the tower, not only are we making ourselves more vulnerable without the protection protocols I have installed here, but we would look heavily suspicious should there be any surveillance nearby. They would try to follow us, and we would be less armed.”

“We would also be putting the Leeds’ in danger by leading HYDRA to their house. We need to leave as many civilians as possible out.” Steve protested. 

Words stumbled on top of each other as everyone tried to say their piece almost purposefully harmonized. Nobody could actually hear themselves, as there was so much talking on top of more talking. 

“I’ll go,” Bucky remarked amongst the debating crowd. “I’m the only one who has actually been to the Leeds’ house before. It would be less suspicious to them to see a familiar face over one they don’t know.”

“But Buck,” Steve started. “You and Peter are the ones they’re after.” 

“Terrible plan. Next?” Tony agreed, or at least tried to in the most Tony Stark way possible. 

Bucky shook his head. “I promise any other way would raise too much suspicion either from the innocent people like Jasmine and Ned or from Peter himself. We don’t know how Peter would react to knowing that the very people who hurt him, made him have nightmares, and who we have been running away from for ⅓ of his life are back. I promise, if you guys go he will ask questions. He will wonder what is wrong, because I swear that kid knows when something is wrong. We can’t worry him like that. This is the best way to keep him safe. I’ve got the keys.”

Before Steve (or anyone else for that matter) could object to this, Bucky was on his way to the elevators. “See you soon guys. Don’t throw a party or something without me.” Bucky chuckled to himself over his own joke before the metal doors closed in front of him on the elevator. 

Steve knew Bucky liked to joke, but this just stuck with him the wrong way. It had some sort of melancholy feeling behind it. Steve just got a terrible feeling in his gut. He took a deep sigh and went back to sink into the couch and never leave it. Steve knew if he put his mind to this for another minute he would go insane. 

“Alright then.” Wanda clasped her hands together. “What now?”

Steve was expecting Bucky to be done getting Peter home by now. Bucky had picked up Peter from Ned’s house plenty of times. Depending on traffic, it would usually only be a maximum of 45 minutes until they were back. Steve checked his watch again. 10:57PM. Bucky left at 10:11. Traffic didn’t seem that bad; it was pretty late for that. 46 minutes felt too long for him to be out. Everything felt wrong, and now Steve’s panic had begun to set in.

Not only was Steve feeling anxious, but the whole team was getting bad feelings. Tony was pacing briskly down the hallway in a seemingly failing attempt to keep him from having a panic attack. Wanda, Vision, Clint and Natasha were playing a card game none of them were fully immersed in. Sam was sat staring at the TV, but if Steve knew Sam he knew that his mind was elsewhere. Bruce was keeping himself preoccupied with busy work, like he usually tried.

So, Steve decided to shoot Bucky another message. He scrolled up to see the all too many he had sent almost every few minutes. He breathed out deeply through his nose again and slid his phone into his pocket and immediately glanced at his watch again: tick, tick, tick.

The clock rang 11, then 12, then 1. “Where could they be?” 

Close to a hundred texts and several hours later, it seemed that Steve’s paranoia was proved to be true. The night of March 11th, Bucky and Peter never returned home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;))) We are now at 20,000 words here! I won't leave you on a cliffhanger for too long, but it will be a couple days before I can force my boyfriend to proofread anything. We love him though! Leave me a fun comment i like to respond when I can! Thanks for all the love everybody! ;-3


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